Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped an unexpectedly high 0.9% in April, reported the Central Bureau of Statistics today. While April generally has high inflation due to seasonal factors, the actual rise outpaced the 0.6-0.8% increase expected by most economists.
While higher than predicted, the monthly increase is still below that of April 2009, when it rose 1%, and below that of April 2008, when the CPI rose 1.4%.
The two main components of the CPI which contributed to the rise were clothing, which rose 13.7%, and housing, which rose 1.2%.
For the first quarter, housing prices, as a component of the CPI, rose 15.9%, compared with the first quarter of 2009.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 14, 2010
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