by Joan Collins
THE Retail Price Index (IPC) rose four decimal points in the Balearics in November in comparison with the month before.
This means that since January the inflation rate has risen to 3.3 percent.
However, if the calculation is made over the last 12 months then this inflation rate falls to 3.1 percent, two points less than in October according to the latest figures released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). La Rioja (0.6 percent) and Navarra (0.5 percent) are the regions which recorded the biggest price rises in November, followed by a group of three autonomous regions (the Balearics, Asturias and Cantabria). Prices rose 0.4 percent in these three regions during November, while in the whole of Spain they rose by 0.2 percent. In spite of this increase the Balearics comes third in the table of regions which show the lowest yearly rise. The lowest rise is shown by the Canaries (2.6 percent) and the next lowest by Extremadura (2.8 percent). The Balearic inflation rate is also three decimal points below the national average. A rise in the price of clothes and shoes is the main cause of the price rises recorded in the Balearics.
The rise in this sector was balanced a little by the fall in the cost of transport (1.9 percent).
This last sector accumulated a rise of 7.3 percent in the first 11 months of the year, although in November the annual inflation rate fell to 6 percent, 14 decimal points less than the month before. This was due to the fall in the price of fuel (5.1 percent in Spain). The rest of the price rises in November by group were: household expenses (0.6 percent); food and nonalcoholic drinks (0.4 percent); medicines (0.3 percent); and other products (0.2 percent), while housing, alcoholic drinks and tobacco rose by just one decimal point. On the other hand, the end of the tourist season saw prices fall a little in hotel groups, cafes and restaurants (-0.1 percent) and in Leisure and Culture (-0.1 percent), while communications and education remained stable. In annual terms, after the rise in the price of transport, there was an increase of 5.4 percent in alcoholic drinks and tobacco and a 4.8 percent rise in house prices, although education also rose above the average increase (4.4 percent). In the first 11 months, the prices which rose most were: transport (7.4 percent); alcoholic drinks and tobacco (5.4 percent); housing (4.7 percent); and education (4.3 percent), while those which fell were leisure and culture (-1.5 percent) and communications (-1.1 percent).
Inflation running at 3.3pc in the Balearic islands