Asda Income Tracker: UK families £9 a week worse off in January 2012 than 2011

The monthly Asda Income Tracker has been published for January 2012; highlights of the report and new activities can be found below:

Families in the UK were £9 worse off in January 2012 compared with the same month a year ago, according to the latest Asda Income Tracker report published today.

The report found that the average UK family is left with £147 of disposable income a week, which is down by 5.5% on this time last year.

Factors impacting upon these figures:

* The cost of transport rose significantly over the past year and is another key contributor to the headline rate. Petrol prices grew year on year in January by 4.1 per cent and diesel prices by 6.9 per cent, according to the AA.

* However, slowing fuel price growth is helping to bring down the headline inflation rate.

* Inflation still remains relatively high on many essentials but has fallen notably over the last few months.

* Rising UK unemployment halts for now, although jobless levels remain high

One positive sign is that, although these figures continue to decline, they’re doing so at the lowest annual rate since June 2011 – a result of the continued slowdown in the rising cost of essential items.
Andy Clarke, Asda President and CEO, said: “It’s encouraging to see the cost of basics improving, easing the pressure on family spending power and freeing up cash to spend elsewhere. Families are making smart choices, doing more with less and staying relentlessly optimistic about maintaining their quality of life.”

We’re always listening to our customers and looking for ways to help them get more for their money in these challenging times.

We recently launched our first Mumdex report which helps us track how families are coping with pressures on their household budgets. Each quarter we’ll be asking 4,000 real mums for their thoughts on their finances, their community and their family’s future.

This insight helps shape the way we do business in the future.

We’ve also launched a Household Budget Planner that lets you work out what’s coming in, going out and how much is left over each week – and then to compare it with similar families.”

Source : Asda
http://your.asda.com/system/dragonfly/production/2012/02/23/19_04_47_53_Asda_Income_Tracker_Feb2012_Final2.pdf