Retail Inflation For Industrial Workers Increases Marginally To 4.98% In November

Food inflation touched 7.95 per cent in November, as compared to 6.27 per cent in October 2023, and 4.30 per cent seen in the corresponding month a year earlier, the labour ministry said.

Retail inflation for industrial workers rose marginally to 4.98 per cent in November against 4.45 per cent seen a month earlier in October this year, owing to surging prices of certain food items, data from the labour ministry revealed. 

Food inflation touched 7.95 per cent in November, as compared to 6.27 per cent in October 2023, and 4.30 per cent seen in the corresponding month a year earlier, the ministry said. The inflation for the reviewing month stood at 4.98 per cent, against 4.45 per cent recorded in October 2023 and 5.41 per cent logged in November a year earlier. 

The All-India CPI-IW (Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers) for November 2023 rose by 0.7 points and stood at 139.1 points, meanwhile, CPI-IW for October 2023 remained at 138.4 points. The statement noted that on one-month percentage change, it climbed by 0.51 per cent against the previous month, remaining stationary between the corresponding month a year earlier. 

The most upward pressure in the current index came from the Food and Beverages group, accounting for 0.65 percentage points to the overall change. Item-wise, rice, wheat, wheat atta, jowar, arhar dal/tur dal, urd dal, eggs-hen, gingelly oil, coconut fresh with pulp, carrot, drumstick, french beans, garlic, lady finger, onion, tomato, sugar-white, cumin seed, cooked meals, zarda/kimam/surti/gutka, leaf tobacco, tailoring charges, trouser pants readymade, leather sandal/chappal/slippers, electricity charges (domestic), books-school/ITI, tuition, and other fees are the major factors behind the increase in the index. 

At the same time, this surge was largely checked by fish fresh, poultry/chicken, soybean oil, sunflower oil, apple, banana, grapes, orange, capsicum, cauliflower, chillies green, ginger, lemon, peas, medicine allopathic, etc, which put downward pressure on the index. 

At the centre level, Tirunelveli recorded a maximum increase of 4.1 points. Among others, 3 centres saw an increase between 3 to 3.9 points, 5 centres between 2 to 2.9 points, 19 centres between 1 to 1.9 points, and 36 centres between 0.1 to 0.9 points. 

On the contrary, Gurugram logged the maximum decrease of 1.5 points, followed by Ahmedabad and Kollam with 1 points each. Among others, 18 centres saw a decrease between 0.1 to 0.9 points, while the remaining three centres stayed stationary. 

Notably, the Labour Bureau is an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment and compiles the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers every month based on retail prices gathered from 317 markets spread over 88 industrially important centres in the country. The index is made for 88 centres and All-India and is released on the last working day of the succeeding month.