By Keri Algar
SYDNEY, NSW: Today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement will be received by the shaking of retailer heads and will likely trigger now typical phrases such as ‘price deflation’ ‘shaken consumer confidence’, repaying debt’, ‘increased savings’ and ‘discretionary spending cuts’.
The CPI, which measures changes in the price of consumer goods and services, experienced a marked fall in the consumer electronics division. Audio, visual and computing equipment suffered one of the most significant offsetting price falls of all the categories at -4.8 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The pharmaceutical division was the most negatively affected sector.
In September 2010 the ABS revealed a fall in the consumer electronics division of -2.7 per cent, June 2010 registered -6.3 per cent, March 2010 was -5.9 per cent and December 2009 was -7.1 per cent.
Overall the CPI rose 0.4 per cent in the December quarter 2010, compared with a rise of 0.7 per cent in the September quarter 2010.
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