Inflation is once again grabbing the headlines in the UK.

On the government’s preferred measure, it rose to 3% in the year to April, a whisker away from the level which would have prompted the Governor of the Bank of England to write a letter of explanation to the Chancellor.

Also in the Brief:

• Commercial property
  The latest RICS global commercial property survey released Thursday 29 May shows that growth in tenant demand turned negative in Q1 2008 for the first time in over four years on weaker activity across much of the developed world.
• Construction
  The construction sector is feeling the impact of the downturn across both residential and commercial property sectors. 
• Residential property
  Sentiment in the housing market deteriorated further in April according to the latest RICS Housing Market Survey.

View the full UK Economic Brief from the PDF Downloads panel to the right of this page.