Evening star., 1941-04-27
Living Cost Increases
1.2Per Cent in Capital
In Three Months
Labor Secretary Predicts
; Per Cent Rise in U. S.
By 'EorIy Autumn

The cost of living in Washington
increased IL per cent between De-
cember Is and March Is, the Labor
Department announced yesterday.
In comparison of the percentage
change during that period in the
cost of goods purchased by wage
earnerS and loWer-salaried workers
IN "a large cities, the average in
crease for all items was 5 per cent.
Secretary of Labor Perkins pre-
dicted 3 per cent increase in the
cost of living in the Nation by
early autumn"
She reported that living costs
in large cities went up four-tenths
Of l per cent In the four weeks
period ended in mid-March. bring
ing average living costs of moderate
income families to 26 per cent above
figures before the European war
/ started.
Wholesale Price Rise Cited.
In view of recent increases in
wholesale prices and house furnish
ings intended for fall delivery, and
probable increases in food prices and
in rents" she added, lit is antici-
pated that the cost of living will
advance as much as per cent be-
tween March and the early autumn"
The District rent increase, ac-
cording to the Labor Department
figures, was / per cent, as compared
with high of % per cent in Jack
sonville, Fla, where an airport is
under construction and a 34-city
average of 2 per cent increase.
III ether items, comparing District
changes and the average in the "a
cities, the food increase was 2.8 per
cent as compared to a IL per cent
average increase; clothing, 2 per
cent increase as compared to a 5
per cent average increase; fuel, elec-
tricity and ice, a 4 per cent de-
! crease as compared to no change in
| the average; house furnishings, 2
per cent in crease as compared to
a IL per. cent average increase,
/ and miscellaneous, 8 per cent
increase as compared to a i per
cent increase in the average.
Capital Rent Index.
! Taking average 1885 to 1889 rent
ais as 100 per cent, the rent index
| for Washington as of March Is of
this year was 1903 as compared
with 34-city average of 1851 and
high of 117.9 in Birmingham, Ala.
| Changes in rents by the amount
| OF monthly rentals in the same set
OF cities from December to March
| showed for Washington that in
| dwellings of less than $50 there was
a 2 per cent increase, affecting At
per cent of the homes in this price
range; in dwellings of $50 to $40 so,
there was 1 per cent increase,
affecting 25 per cent of the homes
in this price range, and in dwellings
renting for $50 or more, there was a
| 3 per cent decrease, affecting "a
per cent Of the homes.
From March, 1910, to March.
l94l, in the first price group there
was 8 per cent increase: in the
second group 2 per cent increase
and in the last group a 4 per cent
decrease. These figures do. not in
| clude rooming houses.
In analyzing the figures. a Labor
Department spokesman pointed out
that high percentage of Wash
ington dwellings are rented on a
lease basis and that leases here do
not usually expire during the period
between December and March.
Summarizing the changes in the
cost of living from the rent point
of view, the Labor Department re-
ported that rents paid by many
wage earners were raised during the
period, even though as rule COM
paratively few families move to new
homes during the winter months,
and average rents were higher in
all but three of the "a cities COW
cred by the cost of living index.