Canada's Consumer Price Index climbs 0.7% in 12 months ended in October following 1.1% increase in September; slower rise mainly attributable to year-over-year decline in gasoline prices: Statistics Canada

Cindy Allen

OTTAWA , November 22, 2013 (press release) – The Consumer Price Index ( CPI) rose 0.7% in the 12 months to October, following a 1.1% increase in September. This slower rise was mainly attributable to a year-over-year decline in gasoline prices.

Chart description: The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index

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Gasoline prices fell 4.3% in October compared with the same month a year earlier. This followed a 0.3% decrease in the 12 months to September.

Lower gasoline prices were posted in all provinces in October, with Saskatchewan (-8.6%) recording the largest year-over-year decrease and Ontario (-1.8%) the smallest.

Chart description: The gasoline price index

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On a monthly basis, gasoline prices fell 5.1% in October. Since the beginning of 2013, there have been an equal number of monthly increases and decreases in the gasoline price index, resulting in an average year-over-year growth rate of 0.3% over these 10 months.

12-month change in the major components

In October, five of the eight major components recorded year-over-year gains. Higher shelter and food costs led the rise in the CPI. In contrast, the transportation and the clothing and footwear components contributed the most to the deceleration in the CPI.

Chart description: Prices increase in five of eight major components

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Shelter costs rose 1.3% in the 12 months to October, following a 1.4% gain in September. The shelter index was led by a 3.2% year-over-year increase in property taxes. Consumers also paid more for rent, while mortgage interest cost declined 2.6%.

Food prices rose 0.9% in October compared with the same month last year, after posting a 1.2% gain in September. This slower increase was largely attributable to smaller year-over-year price gains for food purchased from stores, notably fresh vegetables and bakery products. Consumers paid 1.4% more for food purchased from restaurants in the 12 months to October, after paying 1.5% more in September.

The transportation index decreased 0.1% on a year-over-year basis in October, following a 0.8% increase in September. While consumers paid less for gasoline in the 12 months to October, they paid 1.7% more for the purchase of passenger vehicles, after paying 1.4% more in September.

Prices for clothing and footwear declined 0.7% in the 12 months to October, following a 0.4% increase in September. This decline was mainly attributable to a smaller monthly price gain in October compared with the same month last year.

12-month change in the provinces

Consumer prices rose at a slower year-over-year rate in seven provinces in October compared with September. Quebec recorded the largest deceleration. In New Brunswick, prices rose at a faster year-over-year rate, and in Saskatchewan prices increased at the same rate in October as in September. British Columbia was the only province to record a decline in consumer prices in the 12 months to October.

Chart description: Consumer prices increase at a slower rate in seven provinces

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In Quebec, prices rose 0.2% on a year-over-year basis, after increasing 0.9% in September. This 0.7 percentage point difference was largely attributable to gasoline prices, which decreased 6.3% in the 12 months to October, after declining 0.3% in September. Quebec posted the smallest year-over-year price increase for the purchase of passenger vehicles among the provinces.

Consumer prices in New Brunswick increased 0.8% in the 12 months to October, after rising 0.7% the previous month. Electricity prices rose 2.0% in October, the first monthly price change since June 2010.

In Saskatchewan, consumer prices rose 1.5% in the 12 months to October, matching the increase in the previous month. In addition to recording the largest price decline for gasoline, Saskatchewan posted the biggest year-over-year price gain for the purchase of passenger vehicles (+4.9%) among the provinces.

Seasonally adjusted monthly CPI decreases

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI declined 0.1% in October, following a 0.1% increase in September.

Chart description: Seasonally adjusted monthly Consumer Price Index

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On a seasonally adjusted basis, four of the eight major components posted decreases in October. The clothing and footwear index (-0.7%) recorded the largest decline on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the transportation and the health and personal care indexes were both down 0.2%. The recreation, education and reading component fell 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

After seasonal adjustment the index for food rose 0.1%, while before adjustment the cost of food declined 0.2% in October. This indicates that the decline in food prices was largely seasonal, although smaller than the typical decrease in October.

Bank of Canada's core index

The Bank of Canada's core index rose 1.2% in the 12 months to October, after increasing 1.3% in September.

On a monthly basis, the seasonally adjusted core index posted no change in October, after rising 0.1% the previous month.

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