The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.8% in September on a year-over-year basis, down from a 4.0% gain in August. The year-over-year deceleration was broad-based, stemming from lower prices for some travel-related services, durable goods and groceries, reported Statistics Canada on Tuesday.
Jace Oner
“Offsetting the deceleration in the all-items CPI was a year-over-year increase in gasoline prices, which rose at a faster pace in September (+7.5%) compared with August (+0.8%) due to a base-year effect. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 3.7% in September, following a 4.1% increase in August,” said the federal agency.
“On a monthly basis, the CPI fell 0.1% in September, after a 0.4% gain in August. The monthly slowdown was mainly driven by lower month-over-month prices for gasoline (-1.3%) in September. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.2%, stemming from travel-related services.”
StatsCan said price growth for groceries continued to slow in September but remained above headline inflation, rising 5.8% year over year, following a 6.9% increase in August. The deceleration stemmed from year-over-year slowdowns in meat (+4.4%), dairy products (+4.0%) and coffee and tea (+2.7%), which were mainly driven by base-year effects. Large monthly gains in September 2022, when grocery prices increased at the fastest pace in 41 years, fell out of the 12-month movements and put downward pressure on the indexes, it said.
In contrast, prices for fresh fruit (+3.0%), fish (+5.1%), bakery products (+8.0%) and edible fats and oils (+14.8%) increased at a faster pace on a year-over-year basis in September compared with August, it added.
“Year over year, gasoline prices rose 7.5% at the national level in September, following a 0.8% increase in August. The increase was mainly driven by a base-year effect, as prices fell 7.4% month over month in September 2022, amid an increase in global supply of crude oil,” added the report.
“Prices at the pump accelerated the most in Eastern Canada on a year-over-year basis in September 2023. In Western Canada, refinery shutdowns limited supply in September 2022, which kept gasoline prices higher that year. As a result, gasoline prices in western provinces did not fall to the same extent from August to September 2022.”
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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