COST OF LIVING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 138, 6 August 1941, Page 8

COST OF LIVING

7.1 PER CENT ABOVE PREWAR FIGURE The retail priccs index for the three food groups for May was 1099, Un advance of 7 points since April, states the Abstract of Statistics. The index for the dairy produce group has risen 22 points (from 1013 to 1065), reflecting the higher price levels ruling in winter for egg nnd milk. The index for the groceries group also shows a sharp rise (13 points) due principally to increases in the price of both potatoes and tea. Minor reductions in the retail price of meat have the index for this group to f»ll ! 'T3 points, In the groups other than food, those reflecting the greatest increases were the clothing, furnishing, cleaning and crockery groups. When the Miay indexes for food, fuel and light, clothing, and miscellaneous steins are combined with the February rent index, an all-groups index of 1066 is obtained, which is 5 points above the figure for the previous month. This index is 60.7 per cent above the 1914 level and 7-1 per cent above the last pre-war month (August, 1939). The wholesale prices index (base 1926-30 equals 1000) rose 10 points, from 1293 in April to 1303 in May. The index for locally-produced commodities showed a 20-point increase (from 1119 to 1139), whil'o the index for imported commodities advanced only 2 points. The export prices index for Maj* was 1540, an increase of 16 points since April. The principal movements of the individual groups were: Increases—Hides, skins, etc., 72 points; meat, 53 points. Decrease — Timber, 83 points. The shares price index (base: 1926 equals 1000) for all groups combined at the end of May \va; 883, an increase of 14 points over that for April. The index for industrial shares separately was 903, a rise of 4 points as compared Avith the previous month.