UK consumers squeezed as wages, inflation diverge

London

UK consumers, touted by Bank of England (BOE) governor Mark Carney as a key to the economy's performance, may find the squeeze on their pockets gets a little tighter this week.

While inflation's acceleration probably paused in March - partly due to the timing of Easter - another weakening in wage growth means pay isn't keeping pace with price increases. That's all going to feed into household spending habits in 2017.