The Extended National Consumer Price Index - IPCA – rose again in August and recorded a change of 0.37%, 0.21 percentage points above the rate of 0.16% recorded in July.

As a result, the accumulated index of the year closed at 4.42%, above the rate of 3.14% relative to the same period of 2010. Considering the last 12 months, the index was at 7.23%, the highest since June of 2005 (7.27%), and above the 6.87% relative to the 12 immediately previous months. In August of 2010 the rate was at 0.04%.

The complete publication of the survey can be accessed at

https://www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/precos/inpc_ipca/defaultinpc.shtm. 

Food products, which had dropped 0.34% in July, recovered and enjoyed a significant increase in August, hitting 0.72% of change and causing an impact of 0.17 percentage points, what accounts for 45% of the monthly index. Several products had their prices increased. The highlight was meat (from –1.12% to 1.84%), which exerted the main individual impact on the IPCA of August, 0.04 points. Considering non-food products, the change was of 0.26% in August, below the 0.31% of July.

As for Housing (from 0.27% of July to 0.32% in August), costs also rose, especially residential rent (from 0.46% to 1.06%), which exerted the second highest impact in the month (0.03 percentage points), and water and sewage fees (from 0.33% to 1.05%). That increase is attributable to the rise of 8.80% in the fees of Rio de Janeiro (7.62%) on August 1^st and of 7.21% in the fees of Porto Alegre (0.23%), in force since July 1^st. 

The rise in house appliances (from –0.32% to 2.38%) influenced the result of housing articles (from 0.03% to 0.57%). The highlights were refrigerators (from –0.29% to 3.29%) and washing machines (from –1.58% to 3.18%).

Wearing apparel (from 0.10% to 0.67%) also contributed to the highest rate of August. The highlights were female (from –0.26% to 1.18%) and male clothes (from 0.19% to 0.75%), reflecting the end of the winter sales and the beginning of the spring-summer collection.

The salaries of the domestic employees (from 1.26% to 0.72%), though continuing the upward trend, rose less than in the previous month.

However, the group of personal expenses (from 0.49% to 0.50%) recorded a result very close to the one of the previous month, as other items enjoyed an acceleration, such as hairdressing services (from –1.10% to 0.97%).

The slight increase of education (from 0.11% to 0.17%) in August reflected the complete picture of the second semester of the schooling year. Schools changed 0.11%, while diverse schools (computer, languages, etc.) recorded a high of 0.91%.

Expenditure with transportation (from 0.46% to –0.11%), in turn, stood out negatively. That was mainly due to the reduction of air fare (from 3.20% to –5.95%), the prices of new (from –0.05% to –0.37%) and used automobiles (from –0.47% to –0.61%), interstate bus fare (from 5.80% to 0.23%), vehicle insurance (from –0.04% to –0.88%), and gasoline (from 0.15% to –0.14%). In the case of ethanol (from 4.01% to 0.30%), though no reduction of prices was recorded, there was a strong deceleration in the rate of growth. 

Among the regional indexes, the highest was registered from Rio de Janeiro (0.47%), due to the rise of 8.80 % in water and sewage fees (7.62%) on August 1^st and to the high in the prices of food products (1.13%).

The lowest index was recorded by Porto Alegre (0.14%), considering the result of food and beverages (0.13%), the lowest rate of all the regions 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 July 28 to August 26 of 2011 (reference) were compared with the prices in force from June 29 to July 27 of 2011 (base).

INPC increased by 0.42% in August

The National Consumer Price Index (INPC) recorded a change of 0.42% in August, above the result of 0.00% of July in 0.42 percentage points. As a result, the accumulated index of the year closed at 4.14%, above the rate of 3.24% relative to the same period of 2010. Considering the last 12 months, the index was at 7.40%, above the 6.87% relative to the 12 immediately previous months. In August of 2010, INPC was at -0.07%.

Food products

recorded a change of 0.70% in August, while non-food products increased by 0.30%. In July, the results were at –0.54% and 0.24%, respectively.

Among the regional indexes, the highest was registered in Rio de Janeiro (0.66%), due to the rise of 8.80 % in water and sewage fees (7.62%) on August 1st and to the group of food products (1.02%). Curitiba (0.02%) registered the lowest rate, of which food products changed 0.14%.

 O INPC é calculado pelo IBGE desde 1979, se refere às famílias com rendimento monetário de 01 a 06 salários mínimos, sendo o chefe assalariado, e abrange nove regiões metropolitanas do País, além do município de Goiânia e de Brasília. Para cálculo do índice do mês foram comparados os preços coletados no período de 28 de julho a 26 de agosto de 2011 (referência) com os preços vigentes no período 29 de junho a 27 de julho de 2011 (base).