CPI shows slight drops in key segments
The Consumer Price Index showed a drop of 0.1 percent in November, in comparison to the same month last year, according to information released Wednesday by the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute.
November’s CPI rate was of 110.593, remaining virtually flat in comparison to the 110.663 but reflects a very small decrease in inflation. By definition a CPI measures changes through time in the price level of a consumer goods purchased by households.
The groups of goods and services that reflected a reduction in their rates were: entertainment (down 1 percent), housing (0.8 percent), clothing (0.3) and food and beverages (0.1). The Bureau of Labor Statistics is responsible for gathering the data that the Statistics Institute made public Wednesday.
The index results showed that in November, the island’s healthcare segment remained flat in comparison to the prior month.
Within the food and beverage group, the largest reduction was evidenced in the area of fruit and vegetables, especially in the prices of tomatoes and yams.
A drop in the segment of lodging was prompted as a result of a 3.3 percent increase in the cost of fuel needed to produce electricity.
Meanwhile, in the segment of clothing, the CPI showed a 1.7 percent drop in the price of watches and jewelry, while the index showed an increase of 0.8 percent in the area of transportation, due mainly to a 22.5 percent increase in airfare prices and as a result of rising fuel prices.
