The country registered a slowdown in consumer price inflation in October, but the persistent struggle with high living costs remains a pressing concern for many Filipino consumers.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday, Nov. 7, that the inflation rate eased to 4.9 percent, which is lower than the recorded 6.1 percent a month before and 7.7 percent in October a year earlier.

This means that prices are still rising, but not as much as quickly as they did three months back. In addition, the October inflation was among the slowest inflation rates since March last year.

Despite this, several consumers feel that prices, particularly that of food, remain high.

Elena, a frequent buyer at Cubao Farmers Market, said that dried fish and beef prices remain the same. Of the P5,000 she brought to the market, only P700 was left to her.

For Joy, a cafe shop attendant, vegetable prices further increased in October. She also added that the prices of their menu remain the same.

The PSA said that restaurants and accommodation services, particularly restaurants and cafe, was another reason that caused the downtrend of inflation in October with a 6.3 percent inflation rate and 6.8 percent share.

Meanwhile, Monette, a government employee, said she felt that food prices in fast-food restaurants also quickened, with electricity and water costs also increasing.

PSA data showed that prices of food also slowed down to 7.1 percent in October, lower than the 10 percent recorded in the previous month and the 9.8 percent from a year earlier.

PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis S. Maps said that food contributed 2.5 percentage points to the headline inflation. These comprised rice with a 1 percent contribution share, vegetables with a 0.32 percent share, and fish with a 0.3 percent share.

In contrast, the costs of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels registered a higher inflation rate of 2.6 percent from 2.4 percent in the previous month. It contributed a 0.6 percent to the overall inflation rate.

Countering high prices with high quality jobs

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon said in a palace briefing that in countering the increase in prices, there also be an increase in the quality of jobs.

“We have programs in place to ensure that we enhance the employability of our workers and improve their skills. That is why this is truly a whole-of-government approach,” Edillon said also on Tuesday.

“So our interest now is to increase it [jobs] and make it better, quality jobs, that is the intent of the Marcos administration,” she added.

She also cited that lowering the cost of business through attracting the “right kind” of investments may decrease the costs of good and services.

Results of the Labor Force Survey for August showed that the number of self-employed and unpaid family workers saw significant increases compared to the increase in wage and salary workers.

Specifically, unpaid family workers increased to 3.84 million from 1.99 million in July, while self-employed individuals rose to 13.14 million from 1.99 million. This as wage and salary workers marginally increased to 30.07 million from 29.99 million.

El Niño risk

For Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., the ease of inflation in October was due to better weather conditions compared to past months.

He also cited that the palay harvest season could have stabilized or even eased local palay and rice prices, which accounted for nearly 9 percent of the inflation basket.

However, Ricafort said that the further easing of inflation could be offset by the risk of El Niño drought from the end quarter of the year to the first quarter of next year which could lead to the increase in local prices of rice and other agricultural products.

However, the El Niño drought may be less likely to affect some of the regions in Visayas, Mindanao, and eastern parts of Luzon, NEDA Undersecretary Edillon said.