With the most recent information from November 2022 the overall consumer price index for Puerto Rico reached 131.9, increasing 0.4% from the previous month’s October 2022 value of 131.4 and a 6.3% increase from the November 2021 value of 124.1. For context this would mean a purchasing power of $0.76 for November 2022 in December 2006 dollars, a reduction in purchasing power of $0.05 compared to the November 2021 purchasing power of $0.81.
The group that felt the greatest increase in prices was the Food and Beverages Group rising to a 152.2 index, a 1.2% increase from the October 2022 index of 150.4 and 10.3% from the November 2021 value of 138. In contrast only one group showed a reduction in its index from the previous month and that was the Apparel group with an index of 87, a reduction of 0.1% from the previous months October 2022 value of 87.1 and yet representing a 2.8% increase from the November 2021 value of 84.7.
Certain groups showed a small increase in overall percentile change compared to the previous month. The Transportation index in November 2022 was 127.6, an increase of 0.4% from the October 2022 index of 127.1 and 7.3% from the November 2021 index of 118.9. The Education and Communication index in November 2022 increased to 124.6, a 0.1% increase from its October 2022 index of 124.6 and a 3.2% from the November 2021 index of 120.8. The Other Goods & Services index in November 2022 increased to 124.6, also had 0.1% increase from its October 2022 index of 136.7 and 9.1% from the November 2021 index of 125.4.
A couple of groups did not demonstrate an increase from the previous month of October 2022, these groups were Housing, Medical Care, and Recreation. While prices in these groups have not increased significantly from the previous month they remain, as expected, higher than the same month of the previous year. Housing reached an index of 121.1 in November 2022, this represented an increase 2.8% from the November 2021 index of 117.8. Medical Care’s index increased to 160.2, 1.9% higher than the November 2021 index of 157.3. Lastly the Recreation index in November 2022 was 118.3, with a 2% increase from the November 2021 index of 115.9.
