COST OF LIVING

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 April 1938, Page 12

COST OF LIVING

ADVANCE IN IMPORTANT ITEMS. The February cost of living statistics, which are now available through the latest issue of the Abstract of Statistics, indicate that over the last five years retail prices (on which the average householder can base his living costs) have risen to an over-all figure which has been exceeded in only 13 of the 24 years since 1914. This figure is now higher than any year since and including 1931, alild far higher, too, than the war years. In the summarised business statistics given in the abstract, which . is the official Government publication dealing with national statistics, it is shown that the all-groups retail index number, indicative of the prices for seven major items of home costs and’ ■ other miscellaneous items, has inj creased in 1937-38 by 5 per cent, over the previous year. Those are the figures for the February period. Yet the same summary, dealing with the index for wage rates of adults, shows •that in December of last year the wage rate had increased by only 3.1 per cent. On that basis the figures show an adverse balance, as between wages and costs, of 1-9 per cent. The retail price index figures dealing with groceries}, dairy produce, meat, the three main food groups, rent, fuel and light, clothing, drapery and footwear, and d miscellaneous collection of the articles necessary for •the running of a home, make interesting reading. On these figures there has been a steady rise yearly, from February to Februalry since 1933, until now the figure stands nearly 20 per cent, above that for 1933. The increase since February, 1937, is alone interesting when compared with the wages trend. In February, 1937, the all-groups index figure for retail prices wals 898. The base of these figures is the Dominion weighted average of prices in 1926-30 for 25 centres in the case of food and rent groups, and the average of prices in 1926-30 in four chief centres in the case ol the other groups, all these equalling the basic figure of 1000. At the end of February of this year the figure hall risen 49 points, to 947. The table given in the abstract includes a comparison of current and past figures with 1914, the basic year taken. Last February the retail index had' risen to an increase of 50.2 per cent, on the 1914 figure. This represented the highest percentage increase on 1914 since 1931. Even in 1919. when the full effect of walr-time increase was being felt, the increase or 1914 was only 45.2 per cent. The table showing the situation for all groups covered by the retail price index follows, the Dominion figure being given in each case for February ol the year stated:—

WAGES INCREASES. Against this increase in the general cost of living must be offset any rises ivhich have taken place periodically in wages. But while in industrial groups there have been recent wages increases "which probably bring* the wages figure up to something like the advance in the cost of living, in many professional groups, and no doubt among many industries too, there have been only the 10 per cent, general restoration of wages to compensate for increased costs. For instance, many professional groups of workers have received only the 10 per cent, restoration given by the Government iu 1936. But since 1936 the rise in the cost of living has been (taking the February number) no less than 107 points in a thousand. Certainly many thousands of workers have received no increase in wages since February of last year, but during the 12 months there has been an increase of 49 points. These increases are accentuated in their effect when it is realised that they have occurred' in the major items of household expenditure. For instance, the Dominion index number for rents has increased since February, 1937, from 820 to 842. Groceries have gone from 904 to 955; dairy produce from 850 to 927; meat from 970 to 1052; three food groups from 916 to 985; fuel and light from 906 to 941; and that statistically convenient “miscellaneous” from 1036 to 1056. Incidentally, meat prices have been higher on only two occasions (on a yearly basis) since 1914.

Index P.c. increase Year. figure. on 1914. 1931 . . 932 48.4 1932 . . 875 39.3 1933 . . 797 26.9 1934 . . 804 28-0 1935 . . 826 31.5 193G . . 840 33.8 1937 . . S9S 43.0 1938 . . 947 50.8