Retail inflation rose to 6.09% in June compared to 5.84% in March, government data released on Monday showed. The government had suspended the release of retail inflation data for April and May, citing inadequate data collection during the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

A bigger increase in prices of some food items and transportation contributed to the rise in retail inflation for June. Food inflation in June increased by 7.87%, according to the data.

However, perishable items such as fruits and vegetables showed sharply lower rise. Vegetable inflation stood at 1.86%, while inflation in the fruits category stood at -0.68%. Meanwhile, inflation in the meats and fish category stood at 16.22%, oil and fats was at 12.27%, pulses at 16.68% and spices at 11.74%. Transport and communication inflation was at 7.14%. Clothing and footwear inflation stood at 3.53%. Fuel and light inflation stood at 2.69%. Inflation in the personal care and effects category, which includes gold ornaments, stood at 12.43%.

A statement by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said that to address the non-availability of data for several sub-groups during April and May, the National Statistical Office (NSO) undertook a separate exercise based on the imputation methodology recommended in “Business Continuity Guidelines”.

It was brought out in May by the inter-secretariat working group on price statistics – a combined forum of International Labour Organization, EuroStat, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

“During the lockdown period, prices were collected through telephonic call from the designated outlets in selected markets, which was supplemented by information collected during the personal purchase of field staff for the items being transacted from neighborhood outlets keeping in view the travel advisories,” the statement added.

The output in the eight core industries suffered an overall contraction for a third straight month in May, shrinking 23.4%, as the pandemic-induced lockdown kept large parts of the economy shut, government data released on June 30 showed.