Retail inflation for industrial workers saw a decrease to 6.91 per cent in August from 7.54 per cent in July this year, primarily driven by lower prices of certain food items.
According to a statement from the Labour Bureau, “Year-on-year inflation for August was at 6.91 per cent, compared to 7.54 per cent the previous month and 5.85 per cent during the same month a year ago.”
Food inflation stood at 10.06 per cent in August, down from 11.87 per cent in July 2023 and 6.46 per cent in August 2022.
The Labour Bureau, a unit of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, compiles the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) monthly, based on retail prices collected from 317 markets in 88 industrially significant centers across India.
The All-India CPI-IW for August 2023 declined by 0.5 points, reaching 139.2 points compared to 139.7 points in July 2023. The primary downward pressure on the index came from the Food & Beverages group, contributing 0.71 percentage points to the total change.
Specific items like wheat, poultry/chicken, eggs-hen, cotton seed oil, apple, brinjal, cauliflower, chillies green, ginger, lady’s finger, tomato, electricity domestic, and kerosene oil played a role in the index’s decline. However, this decrease was offset by items like rice, arhar dal, onion, cumin seed/jira, cooked meal, tailoring charges, school/ITI books, private tutor/coaching center fees, college and school/ITI tuition and other fees, and stationery, which exerted upward pressure on the index.
At the center level, Jaipur saw the most significant decrease of 4.8 points, with three other centers experiencing a decrease of 3 to 3.9 points, 11 centers seeing a decrease of 2 to 2.9 points, 13 centers with a decrease of 1 to 1.9 points, and 22 centers with a decrease of 0.1 to 0.9 points. On the other hand, Cuttack recorded the highest increase of 4.4 points, followed by Jalandhar with 4.0 points, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Kollam with 3.7 points each. Additionally, three centers recorded an increase of 2 to 2.9 points, nine centers had an increase of 1 to 1.9 points, and 18 centers saw an increase of 0.1 to 0.9 points, while the indices for four centers remained unchanged.
