Thursday, August 21, 2008

Inflation

Well for anyone (except apparently economists) it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that inflation in Canada is on the rise. The inflation rate in Canada is now sitting at approximately 3.4% versus 3.1% during the same period last year. Although 3.4% is quite manageable for most households it is the largest increase we’ve seen in the last five years. Here are the main culprits behind the rise:

-gasoline up 28.6%
-natural gas up 25%
-food (avg) up 4.3%
-bakery products up 13.2%
-mortgage costs up 8.3%

Note: Although our inflation is rising we are still a full 2 points lower than our U.S neighbours.