Massages and hairstyles help increase inflation

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 14: Body massages and ladies’ hairstyling helped pave the way for a 1.9 per cent increase in inflation for the month of September, compared to last year.

The Department of Statistics released the Consumer Price Index on Wednesday.

The 1.9 per cent for September was lower than the 3.1 per cent recorded in August 2012.

The inflation rate for 2012 is 2.64 per cent.

The Health & Personal Care sector climbed 0.3 per cent as the price for ladies going to the beauty parlour to get their hair done increased 4.4 per cent.

The cost of massages increased 3.1 per cent.

There was some good news in this sector as prescribed drug costs decreased 0.3 per cent.

The Rent Sector saw a rare dip in prices by 0.2 per cent led by non-rent control properties declining in price by 0.8 per cent.

Beer drinkers had to shill out a bit more money as prices increased by 0.2 per cent, which led to a 0.2 per cent rise in the Tobacco & Liquor sector.

The Education, Recreation & Reading sector rose by 2.1 per cent due to seasonal rise in educational costs. Average fees for local private schools rose 2.8 per cent while overseas tuition for US and Canadian colleges increased by 3.7 per cent.

There were no increases in the Clothing & Footwear sector nor the Fuel & Power sector.