After five consecutive falls, the annual rate of inflation edged up to 3.2% in August from 3.1% in July, according to the Central Statistics Office.
Prices increased by 0.7% in the month, with the main factor a rise in clothing and footwear, furniture and household goods prices following the end of the summer sales.
There was an average 25.2% increase in local authority waste charges over the year as well as bigger mortgage repayments due to higher house prices.
Prices at restaurants, hotels and pubs also rose. The price of alcohol and tobacco products in shops and off-licences has risen by almost 10% in the past year. Rents continued to fall, and are down over 1% in the past year.
The EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices increased by 0.6% in the month, giving an unchanged annual rate of 3.9%.
IBEC economist David Croughan said that rise served as a warning that there was still a long way to go to defeat inflation. He said the numbers highlighted the fact that the recent moderation in inflation had been driven by the goods traded on global markets and interest rate reductions.
He pointed out that service sector inflation registered 4.5% and was led by significantly higher inflation in Government administered services.
But IIB economist Austin Hughes said the increase did not signal any change in the trend towards lower inflation. He said the figures were consistent with easing price pressures in many sectors of the economy.
He said there was a 'welcome, if overdue' easing in health and education inflation.
ISME said it was 'dismayed' by the rise'. It added that the lack of information or reports from the anti-inflation strategy committee outlined by the Government earlier in the year was disconcerting.
