UK's Central Bank, the Bank of England;
Holds rates at 5.25%... 
Says Policy will remain "restrictive" which means early rate cuts in 2024 are likely off the table... 
Six Commitee members voted to hold rates... 
BUT Three out of nine Commitee members voted to increase rates to 5.5%...(!)
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-summary-and-minutes/2023/december-2023 

 UK Economy stalls as interest rates bite...

UK monthly GDP down -0.3% in October.
All sectors shrank in October; Services, Construction and Production.
UK quarterly GDP flat at 0% growth in quarter 3.

GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product and is used to measure the size of the economy.

Source
Official UK statistics... 
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/bulletins/gdpmonthlyestimateuk/october2023 

 The volume of UK Retail sales is falling, even as the values of sales go higher due to inflation.
It's not dramatic yet, however, slowly, but surely, the wheels could be coming off...
(ONS)

https://void.cat/d/V8i9ujZVCrM4Q4PmPzkfc2.webp 

 Annual Food cost inflation in the UK continues to outgrow wage increases.

According to the official figures provided by the ONS;
Food is up 10.1%
Clothing up by 6.2%
Alcohol up by 11%.
Overall inflation, covering everything, was up by 4.6%.

Trendwise, inflation is reducing, but as most people spend a large part of their household budget on food, lower income households are still hit the hardest.

This graph shows the trend of both overall and food prices.
You can see that food inflation was nearly 20% a few months ago.  A figure that would have been considered impossible for a 'developed' country by most pundits until recently...

www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/october2023#latest-movements

https://void.cat/d/PQGxdbtHv27hFbifCNkJ2N.webp