What's going on?

Data out on Wednesday showed that UK inflation hit another 30-year high last month, surprising no one but the world�s top economists.

What does this mean?

Given all the talk of global price rises these days, you might�ve guessed that prices of goods and services in the UK would be much higher last month than the same time last year ��6.2% higher, to be precise. You might be able to teach economists a thing or two, then: they�ve now underestimated inflation for eight of the past 10 months. And it�s not like one rogue outlier skewed results: prices were higher for 10 of the 12 tracked categories last month, including a 5.1% rise in food prices, 8.8% in clothing, and 9.2% in furniture and household equipment.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: The UK has work to do.
Those higher prices are seriously weighing on Brits: a recent survey showed that half of all those polled were cutting back on nice-to-haves like clothes, and a third were cutting back on need-to-haves like food (tweet this). That might be why the UK government just slashed its forecast for the country�s economic growth this year from 6% to 3.8%. It�s trying to do its bit, mind you: it announced fuel and income tax cuts on Wednesday, and it�s doubled its funding of grants for struggling Brits.

Zooming out: America is such a tease.
Americans are up against it too: US inflation hit 7.9% last month, which might be why the Federal Reserve (the Fed) said this week that it�s preparing to hike interest rates by 0.5% � double the typical 0.25% � at its next meeting. But Goldman Sachs thinks the central bank is playing coy: the investment bank said it�s expecting the Fed to raise rates by 0.5% at its next two meetings.