Friday Stats Canada published their Consumer Price Index report for April 2016 and the trend of a deceptively low CPI increase of 1.7% caused by lower energy and gasoline prices (without Gasoline CPI is up 2.0%). That is what you will find from the summary posted on the Stats Canada website, but as we have learned, if you dig a little deeper, you find many more interesting tidbits of information.
The detailed report goes into a little more detail and gives us the following interesting specifics.
Main contributors to the 12-month change in the CPI:
Main upward contributors:
- Purchase of passenger vehicles (+4.6%)
- Electricity (+6.5%)
- Food purchased from restaurants (+2.7%)
- Fresh vegetables (+11.7%)
- Homeowners’ replacement cost (+2.3%)
Main downward contributors:
- Gasoline (-5.8%)
- Natural gas (-12.8%)
- Mortgage interest cost (-1.5%)
- Fuel oil (-19.3%)
- Passenger vehicle insurance premiums (-0.9%)
As we have been seeing for the past few months, eating fresh healthy food is still bloody expensive. On the positive side (and in contradiction to the Ontario Government’s new view on Energy), Natural Gas being cheaper should help the sale of Natural Gas clothes driers and fireplaces.
Bank of Canada’s core index
The Bank of Canada’s core index increased 2.2% in the 12 months to April, after rising 2.1% in March.
This is within the Bank’s good threshold, so this shouldn’t be the main reason to raise interest rates.
Reports from the Past While.
If you want to have a walk down memory lane about how prices have gone up, here you go.
- Good Food Still Is Not Cheap in Canada (Inflation for March)
- Food Prices Continue to Rise for February
- Veggies up 18.2 pct in Canada
- Food Prices up 4.1% For 2015 in Canada
- Gas Prices Drive Down Inflation in December to 1.5%
- Lower Prices in January in Canada, Pull the Other Leg
- Expensive Food in Canada in March
- Prices up 0.8% in April or More Fun with Numbers
- Inflation at 0.9% for May (maybe)
- Gas Dampens CPI for July
- Inflation and Silly Gasoline Tricks Continues in August
Infaltion on core items is running well ahead of what Statscan indicates
A tube of Pringles used to be available around $0.89 is now at least double if not more. OJ used to come on sale at $1.89 per 1.75L now at $2.40
Coke was available for under $3 per 15 cans now at least $3.50 (my Rum & Coke is getting expensive).
Some will say this is all junk food, which I agree it is, but never the less it is a good indicator of price increase.
Look at the bottle of Tide clothes was liquid. Not only did the price go up, they did a double whammy and reduced the container size.
Ice cream container have a reduced size as well
A lot of little jabs eating away at your wallet.
It may not be your main meal but it is still eating away at you.
Regards
Ricardo