The year-on-year inflation rate for agricultural labourers and rural Labourers stood at -0.07 per cent and 0.31 per cent, respectively, in September, figures released by the Ministry of Labour and Employment showed on Saturday. The All-India Consumer Price Index for agricultural labourers decreased by 0.11 points to 136.23, while the index for rural labourers went down by 0.18 points, reaching 136.42.

The Food Index decreased by 0.47 points for agricultural labourers (AL) and 0.58 points for rural labourers (RL) in September, the data showed. The Labour Bureau released Consumer Price Index numbers for agricultural labourers and rural labourers with the base year 2019=100 for the month of September.

These indices are based on data collected from a set of 787 sample villages across 34 states/UTs. The revised series has significantly enhanced the scope and coverage and incorporated many methodological changes in order to make the indices more robust. For instance, the weighting diagrams (share of expenditure to total expenditure) have been revised due to changes in consumption patterns.

There is the use of the Geometric Mean (GM) in place of the Arithmetic Mean (AM), as GM moderates the volatility in prices and use of the latest classification of individual consumption according to purpose, in line with the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP)-2018.

Meanwhile, India’s annual rate of inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) eased to 0.13 per cent in September from 0.52 per cent in August, according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The country’s inflation rate based on the consumer price index (CPI) has declined to an over eight-year low of 1.54 per cent in September this year, compared to the same month of the previous year, as prices of food items and fuels turned cheaper during the month.