Supermarkets celebrate bumper Christmas as households’ spending reaches record £460 on average

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Food price inflation jumped to 3.7% last month, the highest level since March, helping fuel a bumper season for supermarkets.

Sales at the big grocery chains were up 2.1% over the four weeks to 29 December compared with a year before, according to the analysts Kantar. However, that rise was flattered by food price growth, which jumped more than one percentage point from 2.6% in November.