The bald headlines for inflation are bad, and there is not a lot of comfort in the detail. With the unemployment rate at its highest for 15 years (17 in actual numbers unemployed), this may be a good time to revisit the misery index: unemployment plus inflation.

So, on inflation: CPI annual inflation stands at 5.2% in September 2011. CPI annual inflation has never been higher but was also 5.2% in September 2008

RPI annual inflation stands at 5.6% in September 2011, the highest it has been for over 20 years. The last time RPI annual inflation was higher was in June 1991 when it stood at 5.8%.

All I can say is that the Bank of England must have been desperately worried about growth, and very confident inflation will fall sharply to have launched another £75 billion of quantititive easing in this context. More here.