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FOOD AND GROCERY PRICES.
Small Increase Last Month.
The Government Statistician (Mr. S.
Bennett) has issued the following report
for March and the three months ended
on March 31. on the investigations into
the retail prices of food and groceries (44
commodities) and' house rents in the
metropolitan area: —
'The Inquiry discloses a slight upward
movement in the price level. The index
number representing the cost of the com
modities covered by the investigation
was 1462 — an increase of 0.76 per cent
from February, when the index number
was 1451. A moderate advance in the
price of eggs and minor increases in the
prices of several cuts of beef and mutton
were mainly responsible for the rise.
'There was an advance of 3.83 per
cent in the average price of wholesale
meats; and in the case of retail meats a
net average increase of 1-03 per cent was
disclosed. It should be noted, however,
that a strict comparison cannot be made
between wholesale and retail meat prices,
as in the case of the former the average
for the entire month is taken, and in the
case of the latter the prices are as at the
middle of the month. The table here
under sets out the percentage alterations
in the average prices of meats compared
with the February prices: —
. Wholesale. Retail.
Beef ? *6.82% »1.20%
Mutton ? — '0.94%
Pork .. .. .. .. *4.59% —0.13%
?Increase. — Decrease.
The index numbers for March for the
past three years are as follows: — 1934,
1423; 1933, 1338; 1932, 1494. The food
and groceries price level is now 9.10 per
cent higher than that of July, 1914, and
2.74 per cent above that for March last
year.
House Rents Unchanged
'The inquiry was extended to house
rents, and discloses that rentals have re
mained practically unchanged during the
period under review. The average weekly
rentals for the quarter ended pn March 31
were as follows: —
Wood. Brick,
s. d. s. d.
Four rooms ? 14 0 17 3
Five rooms ? 16 3 21 3
'The average rent for four and five
room houses was 17/8, compared with
17/9 for the previous quarter.'
$