The Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) of October presented a change of 0.28%, being 0.04 percentage point above the 0.24% rate recorded in September. With the result of October, the accumulated in the year was 3.50%, much lower than the 5.23% rate of the same period of 2008. Considering the last 12 months, the result was 4.17%, also below that of the immediately previous 12 months (4.34%). In October 2008, the rate had been 0.45%.

The major contribution of the month was that of fuels, which became 1.74% more expensive and influenced the index of October with 0.08 percentage point, 0.04 point from alcohol and 0.04 from gasoline. In a time of reduced supply, the consumer started to pay, on average, 10.61% more for the liter of alcohol and 1.06% for the liter of gasoline. Alcohol rose up to 14.64% in the Metropolitan area of São Paulo and 12.39% in the area of Porto Alegre.

Besides fuels, expenses with Transportation (from 0.27% in September to 0.51% in October) increased because of the rise in new cars (from 0.67% to 1.08%), vehicle insurance (from 0.26% to 2.73%) and fares of intermunicipal buses (from 0.08% to 0.62%).

Expenses with Communication also increased (from 0.22% to 0.91%) because of the prices of fixed telephony, which changed from 0.32% in September to 0.50% in October. This result reflects the readjustment granted by Anatel to telephone companies, from September 16, to be applied to the fares of two fixed telephony appliances, considering local calls and long-distance calls. Prices of cellular telephony increased from zero to 2.14%.

Variations of groups Household Articles (from -0.03% to 0.38%) and Apparel (from 0.58% to 0.64%) were also positive.

In a slower rhythm than in the previous month, cooking gas in cylinder (from 3.40% to 1.18%) continued rising, as well as water and sewage tariff (from 0.82% to 0.53%), whose result is only due to the variation of 1.81% in São Paulo, a reflex of part of the average readjustment of 4.43% in September 11. Consequently, Housing expenses changed from 0.62% in September to 0.28% in October. This behavior was also observed in the group Personal Expenses, which changed from 0.52% to 0.20%, influenced by the item domestic workers (from 1.15% to 0.27%).

The group Health and Personal Care (0.30%) presented the same result of the previous month, and Education (0.07% to 0.04%) had a similar figure. As a result, the group non-food products had a rise of 0.39%, above the 0.35% of September.

The group Food Products and Beverages (from -0.14% to -0.09%) had a lighter fall than in September, influenced principally by onions (from 5.78% to 26.89%), meat (from 0.26% to 1.23%), refined sugar (from 9.15% to 9.56%) and tomatoes (from 2.42% to 6.74%), besides pasteurized milk (from -8.76% to -6.73%). However, most food products presented decrease, with highlights on the following table.

A table with the results of the groups follows.

Among the regional indexes, Curitiba (0.50%) presented the highest result, under the influence, principally, of the rise in fuels (2.59%) and fixed telephone (2.14%), which reflected the average readjustment of 2.74% granted by Anatel from September 16. Belém (0.48%) presented a similar result to that of Curitiba, where food products presented the biggest change (0.83%). The smallest index was that of Goiânia (-0.03%) due to the lowest rate of food products (-0.97%).

For the calculation of monthly indexes, prices collected from September 29 to October 29 (reference) were compared to those from August 29 to September 28 (base). IPCA has been calculated by IBGE since 1980, and it refers to families with monetary income ranging from 01 to 40 minimum wages, whatever source, encompassing nine metropolitan areas in the country, besides the municipality of Goiânia and Brasília.

INPC of October was 0.24%

The National Consumer Price Index (INPC) changed by 0.24% in October, above the 0.16% result of September. In the year, INPC was 3.48%, below that of the same period of last year (5.77%). Considering the last 12 months, the 4.18% result was also below that of the immediately previous 12 months (4.45%). In October 2008, INPC was 0.50%. Food products changed from -0.30% in September to -0.04% in October, whereas non-food products presented the same result as that of the previous month (0.36%).

Among regional indexes, Belém (0.52%) had the highest result, with food products presenting the biggest change (1.01%). The lowest index was that of Goiânia (-0.12%), where food products presented fall of 0.86%, the lowest result among the surveyed areas.

For the calculation of the monthly index, prices collected from September 29 to October 29 (reference) were compared to those from August 29 to September 28 (base). INPC has been calculated by IBGE since 1979, and it refers to families with monetary income ranging from 01 to 06 minimum wages, with a salaried head of the household, encompassing nine metropolitan areas in the country, besides the municipality of Goiânia and Brasília.