The Extended National Consumer Price Index-15 (IPCA-15) changed by 0.19% in August, significantly above he result of July, -0.02%. This way, the index accumulated in the year was 1.89% and, in the last 12 months, 3.82%.  

This is the first release of the IPCA-15 with the new weigh structure, which incorporates the results of the consumption of the Consumer Expenditure Survey (POF) – 2002-2003. The methodology and the criteria used for obtaining the new weights have been available on the IBGE web site (www.ibge.gov.br) since December 2005. With the new structures, items gain more importance in the calculation of indices, for example, personal computers and telephony services, including the purchase of the telephone appliance. Among the items which became less important in the calculation, the highlights are fuel alcohol, residential rent and electricity.  

Even with the continuation of the falling trend or of the lowest growth rate of prices of most of the items surveyed, IPCA-15 increased from July to August. One of the main causes was the group Food Products and Beverages, with figures changing from -0.02% in July to 0.18% in August. The main influences came from fruits (11.32%) and rice (3.80%).

 The same occurred to fuels (from -1.06% to 0.57%). The prices of gasoline had fallen by 0.40% in July, but recovered in August, with hike of 0.46%. The price of alcohol became 1.87% more expensive after a 3.76% fall in July. Besides fuels, intercity bus fares (3.13%) and interstate bus fares (5.97%) led to the increase of the index for Transportation by 0.23%. 

Besides Food Products and Transportation, the paying of salaries of domestic workers was a highlight in the IPCA-15 of this month. According to the methodology used, the hike of 2.26% reflected part of the readjustment of the minimum wage which happened in April. 

Among the falling items, it is worth mentioning apparel (-0.27%), cleaning articles (-0.41%), residential electricity (-0.55%), fixed telephony (-0.70%) and used cars (-0.88%). 

Concerning the regional indexes, Brasília (0.91%) had the highest result. The lowest was registered in the metropolitan area of Recife (-0.09%).

For the calculation of the IPCA-15, prices collected in the period from July 14 to August 14 were compared to those charged from June 13 to July 13.  The IPCA-15 refers to families with monetary income ranging from 1 to 40 minimum salaries and includes the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador and Curitiba, besides Brasília and Goiânia. The same methodology is used to calculate both IPCA and IPCA-15. The difference between the two indexes lies in the period of data collection. The other index, IPCA-E, consists of IPCA-15 accumulated by quarter.