Retail Inflation For Industrial Workers Eased Slightly In July 2021

In a slight relief for industrial workers, retail inflation for them eased to 5.27 per cent in July 2021 owing to lower prices of some food items. 

"Year-on-year inflation for the month stood at 5.27 per cent compared to 5.57 per cent for the previous month (June 2021) and 5.33 per cent during the corresponding month a year before (July 2020)," a labour ministry statement said.

The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers or CPI-IW is mainly used for controlling dearness allowance of government employees and workers in industrial sectors.

The index is also meant for fixing and revising minimum wages and measurement of inflation in retail prices. 

Food inflation stood at 4.91 per cent against 5.61 per cent in June 2021 and 6.38 per cent in July of last year.

The all-India CPI-IW for July 2021 went up 1.1 points and stood at 122.8 points. It was 121.7 points in June 2021.

The maximum upward pressure on the index came from the 'miscellaneous group', contributing 0.42 percentage points to the total change.

At item level, dairy milk, poultry and chicken, mango, carrot, cauliflower, onion, tomato, cooking gas, doctor's/ surgeon's fee, allopathic medicines, auto rickshaw/ scooter fare, bus fare, rail fare, petrol, housing, among others, contributed to the price rise.

However, items like fish, edible oil, pomegranate/anar and lemon put downward pressure on the index.