Clothing and footwear were among items that led the charge in a drop in annual shop price inflation in April, as the heat continues to dial down for UK consumer spending. Shop price inflation eased to 0.8% in April, down from 1.3% in March, below the three-month average rate of 1.4% according to new figures from the British Retail Consortium. Shop price annual growth is its lowest since December 2021. Non-food items were in deflationary territory, down 0.6% in April from a rise of 0.2% the previous month. This is below the three-month average rate of 3.9%. Inflation is its lowest since March 2022. The falls in clothing and footwear are due to retailers ramping up promotions to encourage consumer spend, Helen Dickinson, NRC CEO said. Meanwhile, food inflation slowed for the twelfth consecutive month to 2.4% from 2.6% a month earlier, as fresh products such as butter, fish and fruits, continued to fall in price due to easing input costs and intense competition between grocers. Read more: UK economic forecast predicts interest rates to fall to 4.5% Ambient food inflation also decelerated to 4.9% in April, down from 5.2% in March. This is below the three-month average rate of...