Inflation pegged at national average

by Staff Reporter
PRICES on the whole remained stable in the Balearics during the past month of June, with accumulated inflation levelling off at 1.3 per cent and the year-on-year average registering 2.7 per cent which was the same as the national average. According to the Consumer Price Index (IPC) made public yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics, prices on the Islands in clothing and footwear dropped by 1.3 per cent, and costs in both household goods and transport fell 0.2 per cent in the month of June. The biggest price increases were found in leisure, culture and housing (0.5 ) per cent in each case), food and non-alcoholic drinks, hotels cafés and restaurants and others (jewellery, cosmetics, services and insurance) which went up by 0.5 per cent. In the first six months of the year (accumulated rate), the prices went up, above all in hotels, cafés and restaurants (2.9 per cent), others (2.8 per cent) and housing (2.1 per cent). In the last twelve months (year-on-year rate), prices went down only in communications (-2.2 per cent) and rose noticeably in education (5.1 per cent) and hotels, cafés and restaurants together with clothing and footwear (4.3 per cent each one). The same report from the Institute showed the prices in June went up in nine communities, the biggest increases being recorded in Castilla-La Mancha, Navarre and La Rioja (0.2 per cent), and they went down only in Aragon and the Canary Islands. The biggest increase in inflation over the first six months of the year was recorded in Murcia (1.7 per cent), followed by Andalucia, Catalonia, Valencia, Navarre and La Rioja (1.4 per cent). The lowest increases were in Castilla-Leon (0.8 per cent) and Cantabria (0.9 per cent).
When the previous 12 months were taken into account, the highest inflation rates were recorded in La Rioja (3.3 per cent), Murcia (3.2 per cent) and Catalonia (3.1 per cent). The lowest increases, the report said, were in the Canary Islands (two per cent), Extremadura (2.3 per cent) and Castilla-La Mancha (2.4 per cent).