PRICE TRENDS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 195, 19 July 1937, Page 8

PRICE TRENDS.

A GENERAL ADVANCE. The retail prices index (base: 192630 equals 1000) for the three food groups for May rose a further 8 points (from 943 to 951), as compared with the previous month, the group principally responsible again being that tor dairy produce, its index having advanced" 15 points (from 930 to 951) due to higher prices for butter, and, to a lesser extent, for eggs, reports the Government Statistician. The index for the groceries group remained unchanged, while that for meat rose 7 points. When the May indexes for groups other than rent are combined with the February rent index an allgroups index of 919 is obtained, an increase of 9 points during the month, or 46.3 per cent, above the -1914 level. The whole prices index (base: 190913 equals 1000) for all groups advanced 24 points (from 1562 to 1580) during the month of May, the principal movement having occurred in the group for locally produced commodities, the index rising 24 points due to the influence of higher prices for most agricultural products. The wholesale prices index (base : 190913 equals 1000) showed an increase of 24 points (from 1562 to 1586) during May, the principal upward movements having occurred in the following groups: Dairy produce, 107 points; wool, 62 points; “other pastoral produce,” 67 points; timber. 169 points. The share prices index for May (base; .1926 equals 1000) stood at 1005, an increase of 16 points over that for April, and at a higher level than it had reached since February, 1936.