Stats Canada published the Consumer Price Index info for February and year over year the inflation rate is at 1.4% which is up from the January numbers which was 1.1%. Â The main culprits in this jump is the cost of food and shelter which makes sense to me, given what I have been seeing (although the shelter part is a bit confusing).
Food prices, the largest factor, increased 7.4% during the 12-month period to February, on the heels of a 7.3% increase in January. Shelter costs, the second largest, increased 3.0%, slightly slower than the 3.3% rise in January.
Costly Food
Food prices going up I have seen myself in the stores, and this worries me. Given that fuel prices dropped a great deal quickly (and assuming that fuel costs is a major factor in food prices), this continued high rate of price increase is a bit confusing.
Is the system building in a higher price, or are they attempting to recuperate their losses from the past summer due to the increased fuel prices.
Gas Cheap
Gasoline prices in February 2009 were 19.7% below levels in February last year. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.5% in the 12 months to February. Overall, energy prices fell 8.8% during the 12-month period to February, less than the 10.9% fall in January.
This makes sense to me given what I have seen at the pumps.
Down Trend Over
After 5 months of inflation dropping month to month, this is the first month where the CPI went up, month over month, thanks to increased food prices and such. Were we in deflation there for a while? Not really just not increasing as quick.
CPI By Region
| (2002=100) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relative importance1 | February 2008 | February 2009 | January 2008 to January 2009 | February 2008 to February 2009 | |
| Unadjusted | |||||
| % change | |||||
| Canada | 100.002 | 112.2 | 113.8 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 1.27 | 112.4 | 113.4 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Prince Edward Island | 0.35 | 114.6 | 115.7 | -0.1 | 1.0 |
| Nova Scotia | 2.56 | 113.9 | 114.3 | -0.1 | 0.4 |
| New Brunswick | 1.97 | 111.7 | 112.0 | -0.5 | 0.3 |
| Quebec | 21.05 | 111.4 | 112.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Ontario | 41.22 | 111.4 | 113.1 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Manitoba | 3.06 | 111.2 | 113.1 | 1.4 | 1.7 |
| Saskatchewan | 2.64 | 113.6 | 116.5 | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| Alberta | 11.43 | 119.0 | 121.5 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| British Columbia | 14.29 | 110.3 | 111.9 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Whitehorse | 0.06 | 110.1 | 113.7 | 2.4 | 3.3 |
| Yellowknife | 0.08 | 112.3 | 114.5 | 2.7 | 2.0 |
| Iqaluit (Dec. 2002=100) | 0.02 | 108.4 | 111.8 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
Inflation in 2009
- Inflation Edges Up in December 2009 for the first time in a while
- How do you spell INFLATION? In November, evidently, it looked like it might start again
- Consumer Price Index is Trending Up Again in October of 2009
- CPI: How Many Negatives Make it Deflation? a good question for September 2009
- CPI Down Again (kind of) for August of 2009. Is that really deflation?
- Deflation again! CPI Down for July (sort of) really deflation? Not really.
- Inflation down 0.3% for June most of this in June 2009 is caused by gasoline pricing silliness.
- Consumer Price Index for May 2009: Nudges Up but overall it keeps looking like not much
- CPI For April 2009 at 0.4% Wow , calm down big fella it is not that good news
- Consumer Price Index Down a Little for March 2009 which is a good thing, don’t you think?
- Inflation Jumps for February 2009, did it really?
Thanks for that info. Inflation has not been something discussed very widely, other than as a remote possibility lurking in the horizon as a result of money printing.
I wonder why it’s so high in Whitehorse?