| National Index Highlights |
March 2001
Twelve-month percentage change in the CPI: +2.5%
Twelve-month percentage change in the CPI excluding energy: +2.3%
Between March 2000 and March 2001, prices of goods and services included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket rose on average by 2.5%. This 12-month increase is lower than the 2.9% registered in February and is the lowest since August 2000. Higher prices for food and energy were responsible for almost fifty percent of the advance in the CPI in March, with just over one third of the annual change coming from higher food prices. Excluding the impact of energy prices, the CPI rose by 2.3% in March, just slightly less than the 2.4% increase recorded in February.
Consumers paid more in March 2001 than they did a year ago for many food items, particularly fresh vegetables, beef, and restaurant meals. The 23.5% annual hike in the index for fresh vegetables is in part attributable to reduced supplies and higher transportation costs. Supply gaps were caused by poor weather conditions this winter in the southwestern growing regions of the U.S. Reduced supplies of beef for the retail market, partly due to herd rebuilding, led to an 18.8% increase in the beef index over the 12 months ending in March 2001. Restaurant meal prices increased by 2.4%, with the largest impact coming from table-service restaurants.
Between March 2000 and March 2001, the energy index rose by 3.6%. This represents the lowest annual increase since June 1999. The greatest impact came from a 49.1% jump in natural gas prices, an annual increase of a magnitude previously not seen for the natural gas index. A 4.2% increase in the price of fuel oil provided the remaining upward push on the index. The increase in the index for energy was moderated by price decreases for gasoline and electricity. For the first time since March of 1999, the index for gasoline registered a 12-month decrease. The 3.2% decline was led by a 6.5% drop in the index for Ontario. Decreases were registered in all provinces except Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, as well as, Whitehorse and Yellowknife. The decrease in the electricity index was due primarily to the residual effects of a $200 rebate given to BC Hydro customers in February (see box below).
Increases in the indexes for mortgage interest cost, travel services, rent, and homeowners’ replacement cost were among the other factors contributing to the 12-month increase in the All-items CPI in March 2001. By contrast, the indexes for air transportation, the purchase of automotive vehicles, and computer equipment and supplies exerted some downward pressure on the CPI.
Monthly percentage change in the CPI: +0.3%
The CPI rose by 0.3% between February and March 2001, a slightly smaller increase than the 0.4% rise recorded between January and February. The main contributor to the increase was higher costs for natural gas. Higher prices for electricity, clothing, meat and travel tours also exerted upward pressure on the monthly movement of the All-items CPI. On the other hand, these advances were moderated by lower prices for gasoline, air transportation and fuel oil.
Natural gas prices showed a monthly increase of 10.7% from February to March 2001. The upward push on the index came from a 20.2% rise in prices in Ontario, where some distributors experienced higher prices for natural gas supplies. Natural gas prices were unchanged in all other provinces except Québec, which posted a 6.6% decrease.
The index for electricity advanced by 4.4% in March. This increase is entirely the result of the resumption of payments for BC Hydro consumers, as the unused part of the $200 rebate offered in February only offsets part of their bill in March (see box below).
| |
The government of British Columbia (B.C.) provided BC Hydro customers with a $200 credit on their February 2001 electricity bill. For total bills that were smaller than the credited amount, the unused credit was applied to the next payment. As the average electricity bill for February in B.C. was less than $200, the average consumer did not have to make any payment. As a consequence, the index for electricity for B.C. fell to 0.0 in February. The index series, which has 1992 as its reference period, is reestablished to the level reflecting the resumption of payments in March 2001. It is not meaningful, however, to calculate a percentage change comparing any subsequent period to the index of February 2001, as it implies a division by zero. | |
|
On average, clothing prices were 1.8% higher between February and March 2001. The introduction of the new spring and summer clothing lines included price increases for certain women’s and men’s clothing items. Prices for women’s clothing went up by 2.2%, while the price of men’s clothing increased by 1.7%.
In the month of March 2001, meat prices rose by 2.1%, up from the 1.2% monthly increase registered in February 2001. This represents the largest increase in meat prices since June of 1990. The 4.2% advance in beef prices combined with the 3.4% increase in pork prices explains a large proportion of the meat index increase in March 2001.
Prices for travel tours rose by 7.2% in March, after peaking at a seasonal high of 11.8% in February. This increase is in-line with the February-to-March increases seen in past years. The upward movement of prices was due primarily to the seasonal trend towards higher rates for Florida destinations, which are in great demand in March.
After increasing by 0.7% between January and February 2001, the index for gasoline prices declined by 2.3% in March. Decreases were recorded in all provinces except Newfoundland, and Yellowknife, which showed no change, and Nova Scotia which recorded a marginal increase of 0.2%.
Prices of air transportation decreased, on average, by 10.7% in March 2001 after registering an increase of 4.8% in February. This decline was in part due to greater availability of seat sales on selected domestic and transborder routes.
For the third consecutive month, the index for fuel oil declined. The monthly decrease of 3.8% recorded in March 2001 was just slightly less than the decreases of 4.0% recorded in February and 4.1% in January. The March index decrease is largely due to lower wholesale prices. Index declines were registered for all provinces except Prince Edward Island, which showed no index movement.
The seasonally adjusted CPI increased by 0.3% between February 2001 and March 2001
After adjusting for seasonal influences, the All-items CPI showed a 0.3% increase in March, matching the increase registered for February. Seasonally adjusted index increases were recorded for Food (+1.0%), Clothing (+0.5%), Health and personal care (+0.4%), Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products (+0.3%), Household operations and furnishings (+0.2%), Recreation, education and reading (+0.2%), and Transportation (+0.1%). A decline was posted for Shelter (-0.1%).
| |
Special Aggregates
All-items excluding food and energy
The index for All-items excluding food and energy rose by 1.7% between March 2000 and March 2001. This increase is lower than the 12-month increase of 2.0% observed for both January and February. Higher mortgage interest cost, rent, and homeowners’ replacement cost were the main contributors to the increase in the index.
Between February and March 2001, the index for All-items excluding food and energy advanced by 0.1%, after increasing by 0.5% in February. Increases in prices of clothing, travel tours and homeowners’ insurance premiums were moderated by lower prices for air transportation and traveller accommodation.
Energy
In March 2001, Energy prices were 3.6% higher than a year earlier, a smaller 12-month increase than the 6.4% registered in February. This latest rise came from advances in the prices of natural gas (+49.1%) and fuel oil (+4.2%). Some moderation resulted from price declines for gasoline (-3.2%) and electricity (-4.0%).
The Energy index advanced by 1.3% between February and March 2001, following a decline of 0.8% in February. The rise in March was attributable to increases in the prices of natural gas (+10.7%) and electricity (+4.4%). Easing the advance was a 2.3% decrease in gasoline prices and a 3.8% fall in the prices of fuel oil.
Goods and Services
Since March 2000, prices of Goods have risen 2.3%, a smaller increase than the 2.8% recorded in February. This increase was largely influenced by a rise in the prices of non-durable goods (+4.3%). Increases in the indexes for natural gas, fresh vegetables and beef had the greatest impact on the price movement of non-durable goods. Prices of semi-durable goods increased by 1.8%. Contributing to this advance were price increases for women’s clothing, reading material and other printed material, and men’s clothing. The 1.6% decline in the index for durable goods was mainly influenced by price decreases for the purchase of automotive vehicles, computer equipment and supplies, and video equipment.
The index for Services rose by 2.6% between March 2000 and March 2001, a smaller increase than the 2.9% recorded in February. Mortgage interest cost exerted the biggest influence on the Services index. Higher prices for food purchased from restaurants and travel services, as well as higher rents also applied some upward pressure on the index.
From February to March 2001, the Goods index rose by 0.7%. This latest rise was due to price increases for non-durable goods (+0.9%) and semi-durable goods (+1.6%), as the index for durable goods remained unchanged. Index increases for natural gas, electricity and fresh vegetables were the principal factors influencing the rise in the index for non-durable goods. Higher prices for women’s and men’s clothing were the main contributors to the rise in the index for semi-durable goods. The index for durable goods remained at its February level, as price declines for tools and other household equipment, and computer equipment and supplies were counterbalanced mostly by price increases for sporting and athletic equipment.
The Services index registered no change between February and March 2001, as the result of a number of offsetting price movements. A drop in the prices of air transportation and traveller accommodation completely counterbalanced increases for various services, including travel tours and homeowner’s insurance premiums. | |
|
[Main menu |
Highlights |
Tables and charts |
Technical notes |
User information |
Products and services |
Contact us |
Français]
All rights reserved Statistics Canada
