A JUMP in corporate profits has driven almost 60 per cent of inflation in the last six months amid a ballooning cost-of-living crisis, a damning Unite study found today.

An analysis of the FTSE 350 revealed profit margins for Britain’s largest listed companies were 73 per cent higher in 2021 than in 2019 before the pandemic.

In the last six months alone, company profits increased by 11.74 per cent from October 2021 to March 2022, the study which used data from company accounts and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.

But labour income rose by just 2.61 per cent in comparison in the same period, and fell by 0.8 per cent after accounting for inflation.

The rise in corporate profits has caused 58.7 per cent of inflation in the last year compared with 8.3 per cent from labour costs, Unite said. 

The findings call into question the narrative of Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey who has told workers not to ask for a pay rise because it would make inflation worse.

Unite has acknowledged the pandemic, energy demand and the invasion of Ukraine have all caused supply chain shocks, but insisted any inflation spiral is being pushed by profits. 

And it warned there are signs a “second round” of inflation is being fuelled by businesses hiking prices above supply costs.

“The weight of evidence shows that Britain is in the grip of a profiteering crisis,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.

“Workers’ wages and what they can buy are being squeezed by corporate wreckers pursuing runaway profits, quite literally at our expense.”

“The governor of the Bank of England and Boris Johnson want workers to think it’s irresponsible to demand better wages to pay for crippling food and energy prices. 

“But Unite’s report exposes the truth. It’s not hard pressed workers who are driving inflation, it’s whole swathes of corporate Britain.” 

Britain appears to be following a pattern of “inflation profiteering” seen in the US but is some months “behind,” the report also found. 

Professor of accounting Baron Sikka said: “This report focuses upon corporate profiteering, the resulting hardship and the government’s failure to tackle it.

“Profits for the few are the source of crisis for many. It could not be more timely.”

The Treasury has been invited to comment.