Deflationary trends continued for the ninth month in a row in July with wholesale inflation plunging to a low of minus 4.05 per cent on cheaper vegetable and fuel. The WPI number follows retail inflation (CPI) data, which had slipped to a record low of 3.78 per cent in July. Government data showed today, the overall wholesale price index-based (WPI) inflation was minus 2.40 per cent in June. It has been in the negative zone since November 2014. A year ago in July 2014, inflation was 5.41 per cent. During the month, pulses, milk, edible oil, egg, meat and fish turned dearer. The provisional data shows, the index for primary articles including food and non-food articles, declined by 0.5 percent to 247.2 from 248.4 for the previous month. Similarly, the index for manufactured products declined by 0.3 percent to 153.7 from 154.2 for the previous month.