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Canajun Finances Home » Christmas CPI Data Ho Ho Ho

Christmas CPI Data Ho Ho Ho

No, I am not commenting about the Supreme Court striking down parts of the new Anti-Prostitution laws (ok, another cheap pop). No our Amigos at Stats Canada had a festive gift for Canadians on Friday publishing the Consumer Price Index numbers for November 2013.

To quote our good friends exactly:

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.9% in the 12 months to November, following a 0.7% increase in October. November marked the 7th time in the last 13 months in which the CPI increased less than 1.0% on a year-over-year basis.

That number looks pretty darn low, doesn’t it? Many pensions have a “COLA” that only kicks in if the CPI is over 2.0%, which might mean no increase this year. It doesn’t feel like things are not getting more expensive quickly, but then again, I am a paranoid loony when it comes to Inflation.

Inflation since 2008, seems low for now, doesn’t it?

A more telling quote from the survey said:

The energy component of the CPI, which includes electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and gasoline, increased 2.3% on a year-over-year basis in November, after decreasing 1.6% in October. The CPI excluding energy rose 0.8% in November compared with the same month last year, following a 0.9% rise in October.

So again, Energy is actually flying high, and in Ontario with Electrical costs ready to skyrocket over the next couple of years, that could change these numbers a great deal. Makes you want to investigate Solar panels more closely, doesn’t it?

Seasonally Adjusted CPI since 2008

The Big Table

As usual I include one of the many tables supplied by Stats Canada, have a look and note that Alcohol continues to increase in cost too (how Grinchy for this holiday season).

Consumer Price Index and major components, Canada Not seasonally adjusted

Relative importance1

November 2012

October 2013

Nov 2013

October to
Nov 2013

Nov 2012
to Nov 2013

All items Consumer Price Index (CPI)

%

(2002=100)

% change

All-items Consumer Price Index (CPI)

100.002

121.9

123.0

123.0

0.0

0.9

Food

16.60

131.4

131.7

132.8

0.8

1.1

Shelter

26.26

127.5

129.2

129.8

0.5

1.8

Household operations, furnishings and equipment

12.66

113.7

114.7

114.8

0.1

1.0

Clothing and footwear

5.82

92.5

94.0

92.1

-2.0

-0.4

Transportation

19.98

127.3

128.5

128.0

-0.4

0.5

Health and personal care

4.93

118.7

117.9

118.0

0.1

-0.6

Recreation, education and reading

10.96

106.1

106.9

106.2

-0.7

0.1

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products

2.79

138.3

141.0

141.1

0.1

2.0

Special aggregates      
Core CPI3

84.91

120.2

121.6

121.5

-0.1

1.1

All-items CPI excluding energy

91.44

119.3

120.3

120.3

0.0

0.8

Energy4

8.56

153.8

157.0

157.4

0.3

2.3

Gasoline

4.62

175.9

178.6

176.6

-1.1

0.4

All-items CPI excluding food and energy

74.85

116.7

117.8

117.5

-0.3

0.7

Goods

48.18

113.8

114.3

114.3

0.0

0.4

Services

51.82

129.9

131.8

131.8

0.0

1.5

1. 2011 CPI basket weights at January 2013 prices, Canada, effective February 2013. Detailed weights are available under the Documentation section of survey 2301 (www.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/2301-eng.htm).

2. Figures may not add up to 100% as a result of rounding.

3. The Bank of Canada’s core index excludes eight of the CPI’s most volatile components (fruit, fruit preparations and nuts; vegetables and vegetable preparations; mortgage interest cost; natural gas; fuel oil and other fuels; gasoline; inter-city transportation; and tobacco products and smokers’ supplies) as well as the effects of changes in indirect taxes on the remaining components. For additional information on the core CPI, consult the Bank of Canada website .

4. The special aggregate “Energy” includes: electricity; natural gas; fuel oil and other fuels; gasoline; and fuel, parts and supplies for recreational vehicles.

Feel Free to Comment

  1. “Many pensions have a “COLA” that only kicks in if the CPI is over 2.0%, so this might mean no increase this year.”

    I like your article and I know you don’t mean to idly disregard the majority with this sentence but I just had to comment. I hope you realize your observation would only be pertinent to a small percentage of Canadians. Most Canadians don’t or won’t have a pension in retirement and few of those pensions are indexed.

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