This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
Fin24 reports that contrary to forecasts, the annual consumer price inflation (CPI) rate is still heading higher – reaching 7.1% in March, up from 7.0% in February. Economists had expected CPI to cool to below 7% in March.
Instead, consumer prices rose by a full percentage point from February to March – the biggest monthly rise since July last year. This was largely the result of pricier food, Statistics SA said. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 14.0% over the past year, the biggest increase in 14 years. This contributed 2.4 percentage points to the total CPI annual rate of 7.1%. Prices of milk, eggs and cheese rose by 13.6% over the past year. But inflation has started cooling in the categories for bread and cereals (20.3%, down from 20.5% in February), meat (10.6% from 11.4%) as well as oils and fats (16.7% to 16%). While fuel prices rose by 4.5% between February and March, the transport index cooled to 8.9% in the 12 months to March, from 9.9% in February. The latest inflation number included school and university fees, which are surveyed once a year in March. Primary and pre-primary school fees were up 6.3%, while fees for secondary schooling rose 5.8% and by 5.3% at tertiary institutions. Textbook prices jumped 11.3%, the largest annual increase since 2009.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Helena Wasserman at Fin24
- Read too, Inflation accelerates for second consecutive month in March, at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page