Retail Inflation For Industrial Workers Moderates To 4.45% In October On Reduced Prices

The food inflation in October eased to 6.27 per cent against 6.52 per cent in the preceding month, and 6.52 per cent seen during the corresponding month a year earlier. 

The maximum upward pressure in the current index came from the food and beverages category, which accounted for 0.68 percentage points to the overall change.

The retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 4.45 per cent in October against 4.72 per cent in September, data from the Labour Ministry revealed on Thursday. The relaxation in inflation happened due to the reduction in prices of certain food items. 

Relatively, retail inflation based on the All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) stood at 6.08 per cent in October 2022, reported PTI. The food inflation in October eased to 6.27 per cent against 6.52 per cent in the preceding month, and 6.52 per cent seen during the corresponding month a year earlier. 

The All-India CPI-IW for October in the year jumped up by 0.9 points and stood at 138.4 points, against 137.5 points reported in September 2023. The maximum upward pressure in the current index came from the food and beverages category, which accounted for 0.68 percentage points to the overall change. 

At the commodity level, the produce responsible for the surge in the index were wheat, wheat atta, arhar dal/tur dal, cow milk, egg hen, papaya, pomegranate, arum/arbi, brinjal, cauliflower, mixed spices, bidi, school uniform, leather sandle, rubber chappal, bus fare, toilet soap, medicine allopathic, among others. 

At the same time, this surge was kept in control majorly by rice, fish fresh, poultry/chicken, mustard oil, soybean oil, apple, green chillies, ginger, tomato, and cooking gas (LPG), among other produce. 

The Biswanath-Chariali logged a maximum increase of 4.8 points, at the centre level. Among others, 4 centres reported a surge between 3 to 3.9 points, 4 others between 2 to 2.9 points, 19 between 1 to 1.9 points, and 42 centres logged a climb between 0.1 to 0.9 points.

While Chennai saw a maximum reduction of 1.3 points, Coonoor and Kolkata followed with 1.1 points each. Among others, 13 centres logged a decrease between 0.1 to 0.9 points. The remaining two centres were stationary. 

Notably, the Labour Bureau, attached to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, puts together the CPI-IW data every month based on retail prices gathered from 317 markets spread across 88 industrially crucial centres of the country.