Our friends at Stats Canada came out with the April CPI numbers on Friday (just before the long weekend), and while it isn’t much different from March’s numbers it still reflects an upward trend (only 0.1% to a year over year rate of 2.0%).
Surprisingly the good news is that Energy is actually slowing down (in fact Natural Gas prices are falling drastically), witness:
Consumer prices rose 2.0% in the 12 months to April, led by increases in transportation costs. This increase followed a 1.9% rise in March.
Energy prices increased 1.1% in the 12 months to April, following a 5.1% rise in March. The slower increase in April was largely attributable to smaller price gains for gasoline and electricity, as well as price declines for natural gas (-13.9%).
NOW I choose to replace my natural gas clothes dryer with an electric one?!?! Oh well, another not great choice on my part, but not to worry.
While the following graphic seems to imply that inflation is slowing, that can be deceptive as well, given that energy costs and Gasoline are all over the place these days.
What do I mean by that odd comment, have a look at the following Gasoline Index Graphic, to see how that price has been changing, you might get a better understanding about my comments:
It has been a lot more expensive to travel the past little while, this graph seems to suggest it is not just my own opinion.
Bank of Canada’s core index
The Bank of Canada’s core index rose 2.1% in the 12 months to April, led by price increases for the purchase of passenger vehicles. This increase followed a 1.9% gain in the core index in March.
On a monthly basis, the seasonally adjusted core index increased 0.4% in April, after rising 0.1% the previous month.
Not very high, but not low either, kind of in the “we are ok with that rate for now” range for the central bank.
The Big Table
Where were the biggest jumps? Have a look at the big table and see!
Consumer Price Index and major components, Canada – Not seasonally adjusted
| Relative import1 | April 2011 | March 2012 | April 2012 | March to April 2012 |
April 2011 to April 2012 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | (2002=100) | % change | ||||
| All-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) | 100.002 | 119.8 | 121.7 | 122.2 | 0.4 | 2.0 |
| Food | 15.99 | 126.9 | 130.0 | 130.1 | 0.1 | 2.5 |
| Shelter | 27.49 | 125.2 | 126.6 | 126.6 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Household operations, furnishings and equipment | 11.55 | 109.8 | 112.7 | 112.6 | -0.1 | 2.6 |
| Clothing and footwear | 5.31 | 93.1 | 94.8 | 95.3 | 0.5 | 2.4 |
| Transportation | 20.60 | 127.2 | 129.5 | 131.3 | 1.4 | 3.2 |
| Health and personal care | 4.95 | 117.3 | 118.3 | 118.9 | 0.5 | 1.4 |
| Recreation, education and reading | 11.20 | 105.1 | 104.9 | 105.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products | 2.91 | 135.0 | 137.5 | 137.7 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| Special aggregates | ||||||
| Core CPI3 | 82.15 | 117.2 | 119.2 | 119.7 | 0.4 | 2.1 |
| All-items CPI excluding energy | 89.92 | 116.7 | 118.7 | 119.1 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
| Energy4 | 10.08 | 159.2 | 159.5 | 161.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Gasoline | 5.80 | 186.8 | 187.0 | 192.9 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
| All-items CPI excluding food and energy | 73.93 | 114.4 | 116.1 | 116.6 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| Goods | 47.80 | 113.7 | 114.8 | 115.3 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| Services | 52.20 | 125.9 | 128.6 | 129.1 | 0.4 | 2.5 |
