Families bear brunt of inflation as clothes, shoes, and potato prices soar

Inflation has shot up much quicker than expected, according to the CSO, and hard-pressed consumers can expect to see their buying power decline further as the year draws to a close.

There was a sharp 0.6% rise in the Consumer Price Index in the month of August pushing up the annual rate to 2%.

Hard-pressed families look set to bear the brunt of the price increases with the cost of clothing and footwear increasing by 6.6% last month as the summer sales came to an end and an almost 10% increase in the cost of education.