Latest reports from the Central Statistics Division of the Department of Commerce showed that housing and utilities topped the nine basic components under the CPI — 161.6, a huge increase from the 141 recorded last year.
The Central Statistics Division used 100 as the base period for their computation of the CPI figures since the first quarter of 2003.
In a quarterly comparison, housing and utilities for the second quarter went up by 20.6 percent — 144.5 — for the first three months of 2008.
Following the housing and utilities in CPI increase is the medical care component which increased by 6.8 percent. Medical care went up from 101.1 for the second quarter of 2007 to 107.9 this year.
Food comes in third, posting a 6.2 percent increase from 106.2 in 2007 to 112.4 for the second quarter this year.
The CPI for alcoholic beverages posted a 3.3 percent increase, from 103.9 in 2007 to 107.2 in 2008.
The CPI for transportation posted a 3.2 percent increase from 100 for the second quarter of 2007 to 103.2 for the same quarter in 2008.
Only the CPI for apparel, recreation, and education and communication went down by 0.8, 0.6 and 0.1 percent respectively from the second quarter of 2007 to the same period this year.
Housing and utilities CPI includes rent of primary residence, owner’s equivalent rent, fuel oil, and bedroom furniture.
Under the food group are the CPI for beverages, breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, full-service meals and snacks.
Medical care includes CPI on prescription drugs and medical supplies, eyeglasses, eye care, physicians’ services, and other hospital services.
Recreation includes televisions, cable television, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions and others.
Education category covers college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories.
The reports showed that the CPI for the second quarter of 2008 increased by 7.2 percent, or 120.9 from the 113.7 percent posted for the same period in 2007.
