October 2008

• Month-on-Month

            The month-on-month growth rate of the retail prices of selected construction materials in NCR further dropped to -4.8 percent in October from -2.3 percent in September. This can be attributed to the decreases in the indexes of miscellaneous construction materials and plumbing materials at -20.3 percent and -0.1 percent in October from their respective previous month's rates of -9.9 percent and 0.8 percent. In addition, price increments in masonry materials and painting materials and related compounds correspondingly eased to 0.1 percent and 1.0 percent from 1.8 percent 1.6 percent, respectively. Prices of tinsmithry materials recorded a zero growth rate from an increase of 0.2 percent in September.

            Downward price adjustments were noted in steel bars and selected plumbing materials. A decrease in the price of cement also contributed to the downtrend. 
   

• Year-on-Year

            The annual growth rate of the retail prices of selected construction materials in NCR slowed down to 9.1 percent in October from 15.1 percent in September. Slower annual price gains were observed in the following commodity groups: carpentry materials (5.3% from 5.8%), plumbing materials (3.9% from 4.0%), tinsmithry materials (11.2% from 11.5%) and miscellaneous construction materials (19.2% from 50.6%). The index of masonry materials still moved at its last month's rate of 8.8 percent while the rest of the commodity groups posted higher annual growth rates.

   

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  Source:    National Statistics Office
                    Manila, Philippines

  Page last revised:   November 25, 2008