The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.8% year on year in April, up from the 6.7% growth recorded in March, Statistics Canada revealed on Wednesday morning. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.7% in April.
Posted at 8:35 a.m.
According to the federal agency, the year-over-year increase seen in April was mainly attributable to food and housing prices. Gasoline price increases were weaker in April than in March.
Excluding gasoline, the CPI continues to rise: 5.8% year over year in April, compared to 5.5% in March. This is the steepest increase in the non-petrol CPI since its introduction in 1999.
Small consolation, the CPI decelerated in April at a monthly rate compared to the last month. The CPI rose 0.6% in April, after rising 1.4% in March.
Purchasing power decreases
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February continued to influence energy, commodity and food prices, Statistics Canada points out. The labor market with unemployment at its lowest is putting upward pressure on wages. “In April, the average hourly wage of employees rose 3.3% year over year, which means that, on average, price growth exceeded wage growth and the power of buying by Canadians has dwindled.”
Prices go up by 10% at the supermarket
Consumers pay more at checkout. Canadians paid 9.7% more in April for food purchased from stores compared to a year ago. And inflation is widespread. The increase, which exceeded 5% for a fifth consecutive month, was the largest since September 1981.
Examples: fresh fruit (+10.0%), fresh vegetables (+8.2%) and meat (+10.1%), bread (+12.2%), pasta (+19, 6%), rice (+7.4%) and cereal products (+13.9%), coffee (+13.7%).
And the rents
“Rent prices rose in April (+4.5%) compared to the same month in 2021. Rising prices in Canada’s most populous provinces, Ontario (+5.3%), Quebec (+4.3%) and British Columbia (+6.4%), is partly responsible for the increase in rental prices,” reports StatCan.