Australia Inflation Rises To 3.8%

(RTTNews) - Australia's inflation accelerated in October largely driven by higher electricity costs, data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday. The monthly CPI rose 3.8 percent year-on-year in October after a 3.6 percent increase in September. Prices were expected to rise again by 3.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices remained flat in October, following September's 0.5 percent rise.

The largest contributor to annual inflation was housing, which gained 5.9 percent. This was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages and recreation and culture, which both rose 3.2 percent, data showed.

Driven by higher electricity prices, goods inflation edged up to 3.8 percent from 3.7 percent in September. Electricity costs posted an annual growth of 37.1 percent. At the same time, services inflation rose to 3.9 percent from 3.5 percent.

"Today's release marks the transition from the quarterly CPI to the complete Monthly CPI as Australia's primary measure of headline inflation," ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said.

Trimmed mean inflation for the complete Monthly CPI was 3.3 percent in the twelve months to October, up from 3.2 percent in the twelve months to September.

Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of Australia retained its key interest rate at 3.60 percent as the full effects of earlier rate cuts are yet to be felt and policymakers became cautious after data showed evidence of more persistent inflation.