Pangasinan, April 12 -- Inflation in La Union slowed down to 1.5 percent in March from 3.0 percent in February, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Ilocos Region.

PSA La Union chief statistical specialist Dr. Danites Tenido, in a forum on Friday, said the deceleration was mainly driven by food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounted for 71.3 percent of the downtrend.

Inflation in the category dropped from 3.8 percent to 1.3 percent, while transport inflation fell from -1.4 percent to -3.5 percent, and housing, utilities, and fuels declined slightly from 6.9 percent to 6.3 percent.

Under food and non-alcoholic beverages, rice posted lower inflation from -4.8 percent to -14.8 percent; meat of pigs, fresh, chilled ...