PRICES IN BRITAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17652, 13 December 1920, Page 4

PRICES IN BRITAIN.

The downward movement of wholesale prices in Britain is shown by the Statist's index-numbers to have extended further in the last two months than in the preceding five months. The price-level reached, its culminating point in April, when the index-number, 266.1, was 213 per cent, higher than the average of 1914. The computation for September showed a fall of 17.4 points, or 6£ per cent., in five months. The November index-num-ber is apparently 223.8, showing a drop of 24.9 points, or 10 per cent., in two months, and making the total fall since April 42.3 points, or 15.9 per cent. Whereas prices in April were 213 per cent, above the pre-war level, November values are lower than those of October, 1919, and 163 per cent, above the 1914 standard. All commodities comprising the Statist's regimen have not shared equally in this movement. For instance, animal foods are shown to have continued to rise until August, but this was a temporary reaction due to the removal of control restrictions, and the increase was more than balanced by the decline in the sugar, coffee and tea group. Similarly, the prices of minerals were low in June, and advanced again during the next few months. The latest quotations show that the principal industrial metals are now reflecting the prevailing tendency, while the continued weakness of the freight-market is symptomatic. Except for the greater movement of the last two months, \t is significant that prices have not receded faster than they rose. The maximum point of last April falls midway, in point of time, between the corresponding levels of November, 1920, and October, 1919.