The Melbourne Institute’s monthly inflation gauge rose by 1.2% in July. It’s headline inflation rate was 5.4%, while the Reserve Bank’s preferred measure of underlying inflation rose by 0.9% during the month to be 3.9% higher in the year to July.
It was the highest rate of inflation recorded by the index in two decades.
Melbourne Institute associate professor Sam Tsiaplias noted “the results suggest ongoing, broad-based, inflationary pressure with higher prices observed for a wide range of goods and services”, with the largest movements in utilities and housing-related costs, including rents and housing construction costs.
