The squeeze on consumers intensified last month as soaring air fares and more expensive clothing lifted inflation higher than expected.
The Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation showed prices climbed by 2.7% in May, up from 2.4% in April, according to a report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
But while inflation is expected to peak at about 3% in coming months, economists believe it will then begin a “slow but steady” drift down.
Last month’s surge in inflation was higher than forecasts for a 2.6% reading, as price rises rebounded after a sharp fall in inflation in April.
Inflation remains stubbornly above the Bank of England’s 2% target which it has not hit since late 2009 far outstripping wage rises and further eroding consumers’ spending power and savings.
Average earnings increased by just 1.3% in the year to April and 0.7% on the previous month, the ONS said recently, as salaries struggle to keep pace with price hikes.
Air fares leapt 22% from April the highest rate of increase for this time of year since records began in 2001.
The price of clothing and footwear also rose 1.2% month on month, as the cost of women’s outdoor clothing increased during a colder-than-normal month.
But food and drink prices helped hold back inflation, with price falls for meat, vegetables, fruit, sugar, sweets and jams.
David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “With earnings growth stagnant, the rise in inflation will put pressure on businesses and consumers.”
The figures also showed the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation, which includes housing costs, rose to 3.1% in May, from 2.9% in April.
CPIH, which includes housing costs, and RPIJ, which was created to iron out the gap formed by the different methods of calculating the price of goods both rose to 2.5% in May.