According to FGV’s Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE), the Weekly Consumer Price Index (IPC-S) on February 28 varied 0.31%, 0.09 percentage point (p.p.) below the last published rate. With this result, the index accrues a 1.01% increase in the year, and 4.57% in the last 12 months.

Six of the eight expense categories that comprise the index recorded lower price variation rates compared to the previous period. The main contributing factor was the Education, Reading, and Recreation group (1.81% to 0.68%). In this expense category, it is important to mention the behavior of the formal courses item, which varied from 2.34% to 0.00%.

The following groups also recorded lower price variation rates: Food (-0.13% to -0.16%), Transport (0.65% to 0.61%), Clothing (0.02% to -0.18%), Communication (0.26% to 0.09%), and Miscellaneous Expenses (0.35% to 0.31%). The following items stand out in these expense categories: fruits (0.41% to -0.63%), urban bus fare (1.78% to 0.84%), clothes (-0.05% to -0.26%), mobile phone tariff (0.51% to 0.16%) and notary office (2.85% to 0.85%), respectively.

On the other hand, the Housing (0.43% to 0.51%) and Health and Personal Care (0.44% to 0.51%) groups showed higher variation rates. The main contributing items in these categories were residential furniture (-0.40% to 0.41%) and hygiene and personal care items (-0.13% to 0.12%), respectively.

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