Inflation Jumps for April to 1.7%

As suspected, Stats Canada reports that the April CPI is up. The rate for March was 1.4% year over year, but for April, it is 1.7% year over year. This suggests that the high gas price is starting to penetrate the system and is being reflected in consumer prices.

Gasoline was the main contributor to both the acceleration and the 12-month increase of the all-items index. Gasoline prices rose 11.6% between April 2007 and April 2008, compared with a 7.9% increase posted a month earlier.

Higher gas prices were bound to start this kind of cascade. Now the question is, what is the Bank of Canada going to do about interest rates?

The interesting number I see is that food, the one commodity that I would have been positive was significantly affected by high gas prices, only up 1.2%, which seems odd (or maybe it just hasn’t gone through the system yet).

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Consumer Price Index and major components
(2002=100)
	Relative importance	April 2008	March 2008	April 2007	March to April 2008	April 2007 to April 2008
		Unadjusted
					% change
All-items	100.00	113.5	112.6	111.6	0.8	1.7
Food	17.04	113.5	112.6	112.2	0.8	1.2
Shelter	26.62	121.2	120.1	116.2	0.9	4.3
Household operations and furnishings	11.10	104.4	104.1	103.3	0.3	1.1
Clothing and footwear	5.36	94.3	96.0	97.7	-1.8	-3.5
Transportation	19.88	120.1	117.8	118.6	2.0	1.3
Health and personal care	4.73	108.3	107.9	106.8	0.4	1.4
Recreation, education and reading	12.20	101.6	101.3	100.9	0.3	0.7
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products	3.07	126.7	126.6	124.5	0.1	1.8
All-items (1992=100)		135.1	134.1	132.8	0.7	1.7
Special aggregates
Goods	48.78	109.2	108.1	109.2	1.0	0.0
Services	51.22	117.7	117.1	113.9	0.5	3.3
All-items excluding food and energy	73.57	109.9	109.6	108.7	0.3	1.1
Energy	9.38	150.2	143.2	139.1	4.9	8.0
Core Consumer Price Index (CPI)	82.71	111.2	110.9	109.6	0.3	1.5
1. 2005 CPI basket weights at April 2007 prices, Canada - Effective May 2007. Detailed weights are available under the Documentation section of survey 2301 at (www.statcan.gc.ca/english/sdds/index.htm). 2. Figures may not add to 100% due to rounding. 3. The measure of the Core CPI excludes from the all-items CPI the effect of changes in indirect taxes and eight of the most volatile components identified by the Bank of Canada: fruit, fruit preparations and nuts; vegetables and vegetable preparations; mortgage interest cost; natural gas; fuel oil and other fuel; gasoline; inter-city transportation; and tobacco products and smokers' supplies. For additional information on the Core CPI index, please consult the Bank of Canada website: (www.bankofcanada.ca/en/inflation/index.htm).

Stay tuned, folks; it looks like a bumpy ride ahead!

Consumer Price Index 2008

• Inflation was lower in January 2008: some better news to start the New Year?
• February 2008 Inflation was at 1.8%
• March 2008 Inflation dropped to 1.4%
• April 2008 CPI jumped to 1.8%, uh oh
• May 2008 and Inflation is at 2.2%? Ouch!
• June 2008 Inflation Jumped to 3.2% thanks to Gasoline!
• July 2008 CPI at 3.4%? Holy Moly!
• Inflation at 3.5% for August 2008 : Learn about the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for August 2008. Gain insights into inflation rates and economic indicators.
• September 2008 saw CPI at 3.4% down a very slight amount.
• CPI drops to 2.6% in October 2008: CPI for that month seems to be getting better.
• Consumer Price Index at 1.2% to end 2008. Analyzing the December 2008 Consumer Price Index: Dive into the major factors affecting the CPI, including plummeting gas prices and deflation.