The country's headline inflation rate slowed down to 4.3 percent in May from 4.4 percent in April due mainly to the slower annual growth rate registered in fuel, light and water (FLW) index, according to a report released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) Friday. The NSO report showed that inflation a year ago was 3.3 percent. “Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation decelerated to 3.8 percent in May from 4.0 percent in April,” Carmelita N. Ericta, NSO Administrator, said in the report. Core inflation excludes items with volatile price movements like food and energy. According to the website of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), headline inflation refers to the rate of change in the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of the average price of a standard “basket” of goods and services consumed by a typical family. The CPI is composed of various consumer items as determined by the nationwide Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) conducted every three years by the NSO. In the National Capital Region (NCR), the annual inflation rate also eased to 4.6 percent in May from 5.3 percent in April, according to the NSO. Ericta pointed out in the report that slower annual price increases were posted in all the commodity groups except in clothing and housing and repairs (H&R) index.
