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Introduction
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of July
2002 stood at 127.0, down from the 127.1 level recorded for the previous
month ( June 2002). One year earlier the index stood at 126.1.
Monthly Comparison
The subgroups responsible for the decline in the monthly
index were Food, Beverage & Tobacco, down 0.25 percent, which was
caused by the fallen prices of pork chops, potatoes and eggs; Furniture & Household
Supplies which decreased by 0.07 percent due to lower prices of
disinfectant and fabric softner; and Services which showed a 0.08
percent fall due mainly to reduced prices of cough/cold syrup. The other
subgroups namely Housing ,Clothing &
Footwear, Transportation and Miscellaneous all remained unchanged for
the period under review.
Annual Comparison
On an annual comparison three of the seven subgroups indicted
declines. Clothing & Footwear fell by 5.16 percent, Services by 0.59
percent and Miscellaneous with 1.54 percent drop. The other subgroups
reflected the following increases. Food, Beverage & Tobacco
increased by 1.63 percent,
Housing
by 0.08 percent, Furniture & Household Supplies by 0.34 percent and Transportation
with the largest increase of 4.84 percent.
Rate of Inflation
The point-to-point monthly and annual
rate of inflation
stood at -0.08 and 0.16 percent respectively.
TABLE 1
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: MONTHLY AND ANNUAL COMPARISONS
(MARCH 1995=100)
| SUBGROUPS |
Wt. |
July
2002 |
June
2002 |
Monthly
Comp. |
July
2001 |
Annual
Comp. |
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco |
268 |
118.7 |
119.0 |
-0.25 |
116.8 |
1.63 |
| Housing |
195 |
131.3 |
131.3 |
0.00 |
131.2 |
0.08 |
| Furniture & Household Supplies |
118 |
148.6 |
148.6 |
-0.07 |
148.0 |
0.34 |
| Clothing & Footwear |
151 |
115.7 |
115.7 |
0.00 |
122.0 |
-5.16 |
| Transportation |
117 |
138.7 |
138.7 |
0.00 |
132.3 |
4.84 |
| Services |
99 |
118.4 |
118.5 |
-0.08 |
119.1 |
-0.59 |
| Miscellaneous |
52 |
127.7 |
127.7 |
0.00 |
129.7 |
-1.54 |
| All Groups |
1000 |
127.1 |
127.1 |
-0.08 |
126.8 |
0.16 |
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