Retail inflation for industrial workers eases marginally to 4.91% in Dec

Retail inflation for industrial workers eased marginally to 4.91 per cent in December from 4.98 per cent in November 2023, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items.

"Food inflation stood at 8.18 per cent (in December 2023) against 7.95 per cent of the previous month (November 2023) and 4.10 per cent during the corresponding month (of December 2022) a year ago," a labour ministry statement said.

According to the statement, the year-on-year inflation for the month (December 2023) stood at 4.91 per cent compared to 4.98 per cent in the previous month (November 2023) and 5.50 per cent (December 2022) in the year-ago period.

The All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) for December 2023 decreased by 0.3 points and stood at 138.8 points. It was 139.1 in November last year.

On one-month percentage change, it decreased by 0.22 per cent with respect to the previous month compared to a contraction of 0.15 per cent a year ago.

The maximum downward pressure in the current index came from the Food & Beverages group, contributing 0.45 percentage points to the total change.

At the item level, Rice, Poultry/Chicken, Mustard Oil, Apple, Banana, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Capsicum, Carrot, French Beans, Green Coriander Leaves, Ginger, Onion, Potato, Tomato, Peas, Radish, Electricity Charges (Domestic), etc. are responsible for the fall in the index.

However, this decrease was largely checked by Wheat, Buffalo Milk, Fish Fresh, Brinjal, Drumstick, Garlic, Lady's Finger, Sugar White, Cooked Meals, Leaf Tobacco, Pan Finished, Trouser Pant Readymade, Leather Sandal/Chappal/Slippers, Electric Batteries, Employees State Insurance (ESI) Contribution, Tooth Paste/Tooth Powder, Auto-rickshaw/Scooter fare, Bus Fare, etc, putting upward pressure on the index.

At the centre level, Coimbatore recorded a maximum decrease of 4.7 points followed by Ludhiana with 3.2 points. Among others, 6 centres recorded a decrease between 2 to 2.9 points, 18 centres between 1 to 1.9 points and 33 centres between 0.1 to 0.9 points.

On the contrary, Solapur recorded a maximum increase of 1.5 points. Among others, 6 centres recorded an increase between 1 to 1.4 points and 19 centres between 0.1 to 0.9 points. The rest of the 3 centres' indices remained stationary.

The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, has been compiling the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers every month on the basis of retail prices collected from 317 markets spread over 88 industrially important centres in the country.

The index is compiled for 88 centres and All-India and released on the last working day of the succeeding month.