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Introduction
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of July
2004 stood at 133.2. The index for the previous month ( June 2004) was
at 133.2, whereas one year earlier (July 2003) the index stood at
133.1.
Monthly Comparison
Changes in prices were not such that they could change
the overall index. The upward and downward movements in prices balanced
out each other . The Food, Beverage & Tobacco subgroup remained
unchanged. Housing, Clothing Footwear, Transportation and Services all
remained unchanged for the period. Furniture & Household Supplies
increased by 0.1 percent due to the increase in the price of garbage
bag. The Miscellaneous subgroup on the other hand fell by 0.1 percent
due to the fall in the price of toothpaste.
Annual Comparison
On an annual comparison, the subgroups that indicated
increases were Food, Beverage & Tobacco ( 1.1 percent), Housing ( 0.2
percent) and Services (3.20 percent) and Miscellaneous by (0.8 percent). On
the other hand, the subgroups, which showed decrease, were furniture
& Household Supplies (-3.5 percent) .Clothing & Footwear
(-0.8 percent) and
Transportation (-0.3 percent).
Rate of Inflation
The point-to-point monthly and annual rates of inflation
stood at 0.0 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.
TABLE 1
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: MONTHLY AND ANNUAL COMPARISONS
(MARCH 1995=100)
| SUBGROUPS |
Wt. |
July
2004 |
June
2004 |
Mon.
Comp. |
June
2003 |
Ann.
Comp. |
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco |
268 |
122.1 |
122.0 |
0.0 |
120.7 |
1.1 |
| Housing |
195 |
132.1 |
132.1 |
0.0 |
131.8 |
0.2 |
| Furniture & Household Supplies |
118 |
156.1 |
156.0 |
0.1 |
161.7 |
-3.5 |
| Clothing & Footwear |
151 |
115.4 |
115.4 |
0.0 |
116.4 |
-0.8 |
| Transportation |
117 |
146.20 |
146.2 |
0.0 |
146.7 |
-0.3 |
| Services |
99 |
149.7 |
149.7 |
0.0 |
145.1 |
3.2 |
| Miscellaneous |
52 |
133.7 |
133.8 |
-0.1 |
132.6 |
0.8 |
| All Groups |
1000 |
133.2 |
133.2 |
0.0 |
133.1 |
0.1 |
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