How people's experiences may not reflect the picture painted by official figures.
Inflation reported a surprise drop this week. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 6.7% in the 12 months to August 2023, down from 6.8% in July. This, despite the fact that most economists were expecting them to rise.
So for most people this was seen to be good news and partly as a result of this, only a day later, the Bank of England did not raise rates, as they felt inflation seemed now to be coming under control.
The problem is that the official figures don't reflect the experiences of a lot of people.
For a start, inflation seemed to coming under control because partly because of "large downward effects from restaurants and hotels". But those who are most worried by the rising cost-of-living are probably not too worried by the cost of hotels, which are now rising at 8.3% instead of 9.6%. They are likely to be much more concerned with the cost of food, which although is not rising as fast as it was, is still climbing at 13.6% a year - adding eye-watering amounts to the weekly shopping bill.
In May to July 2023, annual growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 7.8%. So food bills are still rising at around twice the rate of wages.
What's more, over 40% of people report having difficulty in paying their energy bills.
It's therefore important for policy makers, journalists and commentators to realise the real-life experiences of most people do not match the average figures reported in official statistics and that the daily lives of much of the nation might be quite different from the picture painted by the latest headlines.