Double trouble for gas
GAS prices in the UK have more than doubled in the space of a week.
The Office for National Statistics found they rose by 110% in the week to November 6.
This was the biggest week-on-week increase seen throughout 2022.
Prices soared 322% above the level seen in February 2020, before the pandemic.
The ONS’s data also revealed signs of squeezed budgets affecting the retail and restaurant sector.
Footfall in shops fell to 88% of the level in the equivalent week in 2019, while the number of diners in restaurants fell by 12%.
Meanwhile energy giant Centrica has said that it expects to do better than many pundits had predicted.
It said its earnings per share are likely to be closer to the 26p expected by the most bullish experts, than the more pessimistic 15.1p.