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A labour ministry has said that retail inflation for farm and rural workers sequentially eased to 6.38 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively, in December 2022, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items.  It noted that point-to-point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL (consumer price index for agricultural workers) and CPI-RL (rural workers) stood at 6.38 per cent & 6.60 per cent in December 2022 compared to 6.87 per cent & 6.99 per cent, respectively, in November 2022, and 4.78 per cent and 5.03 per cent, respectively, during the corresponding month (December 2021) of the previous year.

Similarly, food inflation stood at 5.89 per cent and 5.76 per cent in December 2022 compared to 6.19 per cent and 6.05 per cent, respectively, in November 2022. It was 2.99 per cent and 3.17 per cent, respectively, during the corresponding month of the previous year. The all-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers for December 2022 remained stationary at 1,167 points and for rural labourers increased by 1 point to stand at 1,179. The CPI-AL was at 1,167 points in November 2022, while CPI-RL was at 1,178 points in the previous month.

The major contribution towards the rise in general index of Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers came from the miscellaneous group to the extent of 0.91 and 0.93 points, respectively, mainly due to increase in prices of medicine, barber charges, bus fare, etc. The rise/fall in the index varied from state to state.