The Weekly Consumer Price Index (IPC-S) of December 31, 2017 varied 0.21%, 0.06 percentage points (p.p.) below the rate recorded in the last publication. With this result, the indicator accrued an increase of 3.23% between January and December 2017.

In this edition, five of the eight expense categories comprising the index recorded decreasing variation rates: The Housing group recorded the highest variation (-0.08% to -0.33%). In this expense class, it is important to highlight the behavior of the household electrical bill item, whose rate went from -1.78% to -2.93%.

The following groups also showed decreased variation rates: Education, Reading, and Recreation (0.75% to 0.37%), Clothing (0.53% to 0.11%), Health and Personal Care (0.49% to 0.45%), and Transport (0.80% to 0.78 %). The following items stand out within these expense classes: airfare (10.72% to 1.02%), clothing (0.67% to 0.17%), hygiene and personal care items (0.35% to 0.10%), and gasoline (2.52% to 2.07%), respectively. 

On the other hand, the Food (0.03% to 0.27%), Miscellaneous Expenses (0.18% to 0.21%), and Communication (-0.08% to -0.07%) groups showed increased variation rates. The following items were the main drivers of such variation within these classes: vegetables (-2.82% to -0.29%), pet food (1.18% to 1.89%), and household phone bill (-1.85% to -1.01%), respectively.

The next calculation of the IPC-S, with data collected until January 7 by FGV’s Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE), will be released on January 8. Go to the website to read the complete study.