§ 117. Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Labour, in view of the continued fall in world import prices, what factors have resulted in his cost of living index figure showing a continuing rise; and whether, taking October, 1951, as 100, he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures giving the monthly rise or fall in the cost of living generally and food in particular, as compared with October, 1951, up to the most recent convenient date.
RETAIL PRICES INDEX FIGURE FOR EACH MONTH* SINCE OCTOBER, 1951, RECALCULATED WITH PRICES AT 16TH OCTOBER, 1951, TAKEN AS 100 Year Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 1951 … … — — — — — — — — — 100 100 101 1952 … … 103 103 103 105 105 107 107 106 106 107 107 108 1953 … … 107 108 108 109 109 110 110 109 109 109 109 109 1954 … … 109 109 110 110 110 110 112 111 111 112 112 113 1955 … … 113 113 113 114 114 116 117 116 116 118 120 120 1956 … … 119 119 121 122 122 122 122 122 122 122 123 123 1957 … … 124 124 124 124 125 126 127 127 126 128 128 129 1958 … … 129 128 129 131 130 131 129 129 129 130 131 131 *The figure normally relates to the Tuesday nearest to the 15th of the month.
INDEX FIGURE FOR THE FOOD GROUP OF THE RETAIL PRICES INDEX FOR EACH MONTH* SINCE OCTOBER, 1951 Year Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Interim Index of Retail Prices (Recalculated with Prices at 16th October, 1951 = 100) 1951 … … — — — — — — — — — 100 100 101 1952 … … 105 — — — — — — — — — — — Interim Index of Retail Prices (Prices at 15th January, 1952=100) 1952 … … 100 100 101 104 104 109 108 107 106 108 108 109 1953 … … 109 110 111 113 113 114 114 112 111 111 111 110 1954 … … 110 109 112 113 112 114 118 116 115 116 117 118 1955 … … 119 119 119 120 120 125 126 122 124 126 128 127 1956 … … 125 — — — — — — — — — — — Index of Retail Prices (Prices at 17th January, 1956=100) 1956 … … 100 100 103 106 104 103 101 102 101 102 103 102 1957 … … 104 103 102 103 104 107 108 107 105 105 105 106 1958 … … 105 104 106 109 109 111 106 105 106 108 108 109 NOTE: A continuous series of figures cannot be provided for the food group index because of material changes in the structure of the index during the period. Three series are therefore given. * The figure normally relates to the Tuesday nearest to the 15th of the month.