Poultry pushes inflation up in December

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A spike in the price of fresh or frozen chicken helped to drive up Manitoba’s annual inflation rate by nearly a full percentage point in December, new Statistics Canada data shows.

The federal agency said Friday that Manitoba’s annual rate jumped from a meagre 0.2 per cent in November to 1.1 per cent in December. But despite the big jump, it was still the fourth-lowest annual rate among the provinces, and well below the national inflation rate of 1.5 per cent.

The biggest contributor to the November-to-December increase in the cost of living in Manitoba was a 7.8 per cent jump in the price of fresh or frozen chicken. Other contributors of note were higher costs for inter-city transportation (up 2.6 per cent), gasoline and telephone services (+1.9 per cent), and the purchase or leasing of passenger vehicles (+1.4 per cent).

Partially offsetting the price increases were month-over-month declines in the cost of things like footwear (-6.4 per cent), traveller accommodation (-5.7 per cent) and men’s clothing and household appliances (both down 5.3 per cent), the data show.

On a year-over-year basis, some of the items that cost more in Manitoba last month than in December 2015 were women’s clothing, (up 10.3 per cent), telephone services (+4.0 per cent) and gasoline (+3.8 per cent).

On the flip side of the coin, consumer items that cost less than a year earlier were cereal products, excluding baby food (down 11.9 per cent), fresh vegetables (-11.1 per cent) and traveller accommodation (-9.5 per cent).

Nationally, Canada’s annual pace of inflation also inched higher in December, but the rate was weaker than expected as lower food prices helped offset increases in the transportation and shelter groups.

Statistics Canada said the consumer price index in December was up 1.5 per cent from where it was a year ago, a higher rate of inflation compared with November’s increase of 1.2 per cent.

Economists had expected a bigger increase of 1.7 per cent year-over-year in December.

Prices were up for seven of the eight major categories compared with a year earlier, with food being the one exception.

The transportation index was up 3.0 per cent in December compared with a year ago, while the shelter index rose 2.1 per cent.

In contrast, Statistics Canada says the price of food fell on a year-over-year basis for the third consecutive month. Prices for food in December fell 1.3 per cent compared with a year ago.

Statistics Canada says the pace of inflation increased in six provinces in December compared with November, while inflation in two provinces was unchanged and it fell in two other provinces.

For the full year, the average annual increase in the consumer price index was 1.4 per cent in 2016. That compared with 1.1 per cent in 2015 and 2.0 per cent in 2014.

Excluding gasoline, the annual average rise in the consumer price index was 1.8 per cent in 2016, following a 2.0 per cent increase in 2015.

In addition to the inflation report, Statistics Canada reported Friday that retail sales in Canada climbed 0.2 per cent i in November to $45.2 billion.

Economists had expected a bigger increase of 0.5 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.

Manitoba saw its retail sales rise by 0.8 per cent to $1.61 billion from $1.59 billion in October, the agency said. November’s total was also a 2.2 per cent improvement from a year earlier, when $1.57 billion worth of goods were sold in the province.

Nationally, sales were up in five of 11 subsectors with the overall increase due in large part to higher sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers.

Retail sales in volume terms increased 0.7 per cent.

—The Canadian Press, with files by Murray McNeill

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca