NEW DELHI. Jan 24: The annual rate of Inflation, based on a provisional-over-final comparison of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) shot up to 8.4 per cent for the latest week ending January 8. reports PT1

Prior to thia, the annual rate of Inflation stood at 8.3 per cent. 7.7 per cent and 8.1 per cent for the consecutive weeks ending December 18. December 25 and January I. respectively.

During the latest week, the annual inflation rate rose by 0.3 percentage points, despite the provisional 'al! commodities WPI (base 1981 82-100) registering no change from the previous week s level of

Inflation levels have been hovering around eight per cent for quite some time now. Infact, barring the provisional estimate of 7.7 per cent for the week ended December 25. the inflation rate has been ruling above the eight per cent mark for the last 21 weeks.

Among the three major groups constituting the 'All commodities' WPI. the index for Primary articles, dropped by 0.5 per cent to 254.0 for the latest week, from the earlier level of 255.2.