CPI: Prices up 2.9 per cent Year over Year

Consumer prices rose 2.9% in the 12 months ended November, matching the increase in October. Prices in all eight components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose ó led by transportation and food ó and every province experienced higher prices.

According to Statistics Canada, the cost of transportation increased 5.7% in the 12 months from November 2010 to November 2011, fuelled by a 13.5% increase in gasoline prices. And that is the good news. Gasoline prices advanced 18.2% in October and the November increase was the smallest year-over-year gain since the beginning of 2011. As well, consumers paid 4.4% more for passenger vehicle insurance and 1.8% more for passenger vehicles.

Food prices rose 4.8% in the 12 months. Says StatsCan, consumers paid 5.7% more for food purchased from stores as prices increased for common staples, including meat (6.2%), fresh vegetables (13.2%) and bread (11.9%). Prices for food purchased from restaurants also went up.

As for prices in the remaining categories:

ï household operations, furnishings and equipment increased 2.4%,

ï health and personal care was up 1.6%,

ï shelter gained 1.5% on the back of a 24.4% increase in the price of fuel oil,

ï clothing and footwear was up 1.1%

ï Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products gained 0.9%

ï Recreation, education and reading was up a slight 0.5%.

The provinces hit hardest by price increases were the eastern provinces with prices in Newfoundland and Labrador up 4.1%, New Brunswick up 3.9% and Nova Scotia up 3.7%. At the other end of the scale Ontario and British Columbia had the smallest consumer price increases with 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively.

The Bank of Canada's core index, which excludes eight of the CPI's most volatile components as well as the effects of changes in indirect taxes on the remaining components, rose 2.1% from November 2010 to November 2011.