Retail inflation for industrial workers rises to 5.57% in June
Retail inflation for industrial workers rose to 5.57 per cent in June, mainly due to rise in prices of certain food items. “Year-on-year inflation stood at 5.57 per cent as compared to 5.24 per cent in the previous month and 5.06 per cent during the same month a year ago,” a labor ministry statement said.
According to the statement, food inflation stood at 5.61 per cent as against 5.26 per cent in May 2021 and 5.49 per cent in June 2020. The All India CPI-IW (Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers) for June 2021 increased by 1.1 points and stood at 121.7 points.
On a one-month percentage change, it increased by 0.91 per cent over the previous month, as against a growth of 0.61 per cent in the same month a year ago.
The maximum upward pressure in the current index came from the food and beverage group, which contributed 0.72 percentage points to the total change. At commodity level, prices of rice, fish, poultry/chicken, eggs, edible oil, apple, banana, brinjal, carrot, onion, potato and tomato among others showed an increase.
Electricity, kerosene, barber/beautician charges, doctor/surgeon fees and petrol also contributed to the rise in the index. However, items such as tur dal, fresh coconut with pulp, mango, pomegranate, watermelon, lemon and tamarind controlled the rise, putting pressure on the index.
At the center level, Shillong recorded the highest increase of 6.2 points, followed by Puducherry and Bhopal with 3.5 points and 3.1 points respectively.
In others, 13 centers showed an increase of 2 to 2.7 points, 30 centers 1 to 1.9 points and 32 centers showed an increase of 0.1 to 0.9 points. On the other hand, Indore recorded the highest decline of 1.1 points.
In others, seven centers saw a drop between 0.1 and 0.7 points. There was no change in the two centres. Director General Labor Bureau DPS Negi said, “The increase in the index during June, 2021 is in line with all other consumer price indices compiled and released by various agencies in the country and the increase in the prices of food and beverages and fuel items is responsible for this.” The index has increased.”
Negi also said that the increase in wages will bring some relief to the working class families, who have faced many hardships during the period of lockdown.
CPI-IW is mainly used to regulate dearness allowance of government employees and workers in industrial areas. Apart from measuring inflation in retail prices, it is also used in the determination and revision of minimum wages in scheduled employment.
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