Israel's annual inflation turns positive in 2017 to rise 0.4 pct

JERUSALEM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The annual consumer price index (CPI) in Israel turned positive to rise 0.4 percent in 2017 after three successive years of negative inflation, official figures showed Monday.

The CPI excluding vegetables and fruit also increased 0.4 percent, and the CPI excluding energy increased 0.1 percent in 2017. In contrast, the CPI excluding housing decreased 0.5 percent, according to the figures issued by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

In December 2017 alone, the seasonally adjusted CPI rose by 0.1 percent compared with the previous month of November, the figures showed.

The CPI excluding vegetables and fruit also increased 0.1 percent, and the CPI excluding energy remained unchanged. But the CPI excluding housing decreased 0.1 percent.

Last month, prices of clothing and footwear as well as transport increased by 4.3 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Compared with November last year, outstanding price falls in last month included fresh vegetables, down by 6.4 percent; culture and entertainment, down by 1.3 percent; and furniture and household equipment, down by 1.1 percent. Enditem