Inflationary pressures are starting to recede — especially in Saskatchewan.
When StatsCan issued its updated inflation or Consumer Price Index figures, Saskatchewan was shown to be doing better than average nation wide.
Now, inflation is still rising. It’s just the pace of those increases is slowing. For the country, prices in January were going up 2.9 per cent a year. That is half a point better than December when prices had risen 3.4 per cent in the previous twelve months.
So, against a national rate of 2.9 per cent, Saskatchewan came in at 1.9 per cent in January. That was third-lowest among the provinces. Manitoba was the standout at less than one per cent.
Gasoline prices were lower and so were groceries but there are worries that fuel will go the other way when the traditional summer driving increases kick-in in a few months.
And, while the national figure falls within the Bank of Canada’s target range, we probably should not expect any easing of interest rates for at least a few months as the central bank watches to see if this is just a blip or if the downward trend is actually taking hold.
