Office for National Statistics

UK retail sales have posted a surprise rise in July, up 0.3% from June, beating analysts' expectations of a more modest 0.1% increase.

The UK's unemployment rate fell in the second quarter of the year, from 8.2% to 8%, although the number of young jobseekers climbed over the period.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation climbed to 2.6% last month, from 2.4% in June.

Capital Economics expects the Bank of England to cut the UK's base rate from 0.5% in an effort to stimulate growth, after last week's GDP figure showed the economy is shrinking faster than feared.

The UK economy shrank by 0.7% in the second quarter of the year, a far worse contraction than economists had forecast, keeping the UK mired in recession.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation fell to 2.4% in June, from 2.8% in May, official figures show.

ANNUITIES

The decline in UK GDP growth in the first quarter of 2012 was today revealed to be worse than expected, after the Office for National Statistics reported a worse than feared fall of 0.3%.

Inflation in the UK dropped in April, beatings the consensus forecast.

The UK's unemployment rate showed a surprise fall from 8.3% to 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.