Costs of rents and hotel prices result in higher inflation

Retail prices edged higher last month as the cost of hotel rooms and private rents accelerated.

Prices of the CSO’s basket of goods and services ticked higher in both the month and the year, by 0.4%, amid signs that inflation in services may be starting to accelerate.

The annual rate of inflation had fallen in the previous two months. In August, the annual inflation rate was driven as the costs of landlord rents rose by 0.8% in the month, which meant that rents have climbed 7.3% from a year earlier.