IPCA stays at 0.60% in February
March 08, 2013 09h00 AM | Last Updated: August 27, 2018 05h48 PM
Electric energy became 15.17% cheaper in February, reflecting most of the reduction of 18% in the energy fares in force since January 24. By weighting 3.18%, electric energy was a highlight and exerted a downward pressure of 0.48 percentage points on the IPCA in February. Taking into account the fall of 3.91% already included in the index in January, the energy fares became 18.49% cheaper this year.
Even with the significant increase of the prices of residential rent (2.26%) and of condominium maintenance fees (1.33%), the expenses with Housing decreased 2.38% in February, becoming the group with the lowest figures in this month.
As to the highs, the Education group was the highlight by changing 5.40%, recording the highest change and contributing with 0.24 percentage points to the index. These figures reflect the price adjustments in the beginning of the school year, particularly those of regular courses, which rose 6.91% and became the highest individual influence in this month, by changing 0.19 percentage points. With the exception of Fortaleza, which will adjust the prices in a future date, the remaining regions recorded positive changes, such as 4.29% in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre and 9.28% in Belo Horizonte.
The second largest individual influence came from gasoline, which changed 0.16 percentage points. The price of the liter of gasoline became 4.10% more expensive to the consumers. The rise of prices in gas stations was due to the price adjustment of 6.60% in refinery plants in force since January 30. The prices of the liter of ethanol (2.16%) and diesel (3.72%) also rose due to the price adjustment of 5.40% in the refinery plants on January 31. As a consequence, fuels (3.64%), urban bus fares (0.62%) and new cars (0.59%), taken together, leveraged the group of Transportation to 0.81% in February, compared with 0.75% in January. By changing 1.41% in January and 0.59% in February, new cars registered a cumulative change of 2.01% this year, reflecting the ongoing re-composition of the IPI. Concerning the urban bus fares, the change of 0.62% was due to the increase of the prices in three metropolitan areas: Belo Horizonte (5.66%), Fortaleza (1.89%) and Recife (1.46%).
Still regarding the group of Transportation, it is worth highlighting the fall of 9.98% in the item airline fares. By contributing with -0.07 percentage points, it was the second downward influence in terms of relevance, right after electric energy.
In addition to Transportation and Education, the articles of Apparel (from -0.53% in January to 0.55% in February) and Communication (from -0.08% to 0.10%) were the other groups that accelerated from one month to the other.
Despite the rise of 1.12% in the item domestic personnel in the group of Personal Expenses, the change stood at 0.57%, well below that of 1.55% in the previous month. As the recent adjustments in the prices of cigarettes have been fully included in the index in January, the change decelerated from 10.11% in January to 0.93% in February.
The other groups that also decelerated were of Household Articles (from 1.15% to 0.53%), Health and Personal Care (from 0.73% to 0.65%) and Food and Beverages (from 1.99% to 1.45%). As a result, non-food products stood at 0.33% in February, below the rate of 0.50% in January.
In the case of Food and Beverages, the rate of 1.45% exerted the most expressive influence among the groups, 0.35 percentage points. Even decelerating in relation to the high of 1.99% in January, this group was responsible for 58% of the index in February. Still under the influence of the climate, tomato became 20.17% more expensive, after having increased 26.15% in January and 51.60% this year. The main food products with high changes were:
The Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) changed 0.60% in February and stood 0.26 percentage points below the rate of 0.86% registered in January. The change was at 1.47% for the first two months of the year. Considering the last 12 months, the index reached 6.31%, above the rate of 6.15% relative to the 12 months ended in January. In February 2012 the rate was at 0.45%.
The complete publication is available at https://www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/precos/inpc_ipca/defaultinpc.shtm.
The results by groups of products and services surveyed are shown in the following table:
Among the regional indexes, the highest was recorded in Recife (0.98%), due to rise of the prices of food products (2.61%), and the lowest, was in Rio de Janeiro (0.25%). The next table shows the monthly figures by region surveyed.
IPCA has been calculated by IBGE since 1980. It refers to families with monthly income of one to 40 minimum wages, whatever the source, and it encompasses nine metropolitan areas in the country, besides the municipalities of Goiânia and Brasília. In order to estimate the index of the month, the prices collected from January 30 to February 27 2013 (reference) were compared with the prices in force from December 29 to January 29 2013 (base).
INPC changed 0.52% in February.
The National Consumer Price Index - INPC changed 0.52% in February and stood 0.40 percentage points below the 0.92% in January. The change was at 1.44% for the first two months of the year. Considering the last 12 months, the index stood at 6.77%, above the rate of 6.63% in the 12 months ended in January. The INPC was of 0.39% in February 2012.
The food products increased 1.59% in February, whereas non-food products stood at 0.07%. In January, the results were of 2.10% and 0.43%, respectively.
As to the regional indexes, the highest was in Recife (1.14%), where the food products increased 2.40%. The lowest index was in Rio de Janeiro (-0.06%).
The next table shows the monthly figures by region surveyed.
