In October, retail inflation for industrial workers experienced a decline, easing from 4.72% in September to 4.45%, primarily attributed to reduced prices of specific food items. According to a statement from the labor ministry, the Retail inflation, based on the All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW), was 6.08% in October 2022.

Food inflation also showed a decrease, standing at 6.27% in October 2023 compared to 6.52% in the previous month and the corresponding month a year ago (October 2022). The All-India CPI-IW for October 2023 saw an increase of 0.9 points, reaching 138.4 points, compared to 137.5 points in September 2023.

The main contributing factor to the upward pressure on the index was the Food & Beverages group, contributing 0.68 percentage points to the overall change. Notable items like Wheat, Wheat Atta, Arhar Dal/Tur Dal, Cow milk, Egg Hen, Papaya, Pomegranate/Anar, Arum/Arbi, and various others led to the rise in the index. However, this increase was offset by items such as Rice, Fish Fresh, Poultry/Chicken, Mustard oil, Soyabean oil, Apple, and others, which exerted downward pressure on the index.

At the center level, Biswanath-Chariali recorded the highest increase of 4.8 points. Other centers recorded increases between 0.1 to 3.9 points, while Chennai experienced the maximum decrease of 1.3 points, followed by Coonoor and Kolkata with 1.1 points each. Additionally, 13 centers recorded a decrease between 0.1 to 0.9 points, and two centers remained stationary.

The Labour Bureau, operating under the Ministry of Labour & Employment, compiles the CPI-IW monthly based on retail prices collected from 317 markets across 88 industrially significant centers in the country.