Manila: Caraga Region's (13) inflation rate in November rose to 1.7 percent from 1.5 percent in October, the regional office of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-13) said in a press briefing here on Tuesday. From January to November this year, the region has recorded an average inflation rate of 1.0 percent, it added.

According to Philippines News Agency, the food and non-alcoholic beverages were the main drivers of the inflation increase in Caraga last month, with a -1.3 percent compared to the -1.6 percent inflation in October. Villuz Orozco, the PSA-13's supervising statistical specialist, said in his presentation at the forum that the food group's share of overall inflation in the region last month was 42.1 percent.

The rise in transportation prices also contributed to faster inflation in the area, which was 2.8 percent last month compared to 2.0 percent in the previous month. "Transportation accounted for a 23 percent share of the overall inflation in the region in November, particularly with the increase in tricycle and airline fares, which rose to 2.6 percent and 76.2 percent inflation rates, respectively," Orozco said.

The furnishings, household equipment, and household maintenance group were the third-largest inflation contributors in Caraga in November, with a 4.6 percent rate, up from 3.3 percent in October. Butuan City logged the highest inflation in November at 5.1 percent, up from 4.9 percent in October, while Surigao del Sur had the lowest inflation at -0.5 percent in November, down from -0.8 percent in October.

Meanwhile, the inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent of the region's income households for November has increased to 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent in the previous month. Caraga's average inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent of income households from January to November was -0.3 percent.