Inflation rate in province sitting at 1.3 per cent, lowest since 2010

Economic indicators paint a mixed picture of the Saskatchewan economy over the past year.

Consumer prices, for example, rose by 0.1 per cent between August and September, and 1.1 per cent in the year ending in September 2016.

That put Saskatchewan in the middle of the pack among Canadian provinces and 0.2 per cent below the national rate of inflation over the past 12 months.

Assessing this, Doug Elliott, publisher of SaskTrends Monitor, a statistical newsletter that monitors the health of the Saskatchewan economy, said price increases for alcohol/tobacco (+2.8 per cent), household operations (+2.4 per cent), and transportation (+2.4 per cent) were offset by declines in grocery prices (-2.0 per cent).

Elliott said this brings the rate of inflation for the first three quarters of 2016 to 1.3 per cent, the lowest it has been since 2010. He added: “A low rate of inflation should provide a boost to consumer spending and to the provincial economy because it means that the average paycheque will maintain its purchasing power.”

Inflation rates always have been closely watched, but never more than since fluctuations in oil prices began raising and lower gasoline costs.

Looking nationally, the biggest rise in inflation was in Newfoundland and Labrador, with a 3.8-percent rise over the last year.

Alberta, on the other hand, saw it rise by only 0.5 per cent in the same period.

An interesting point made by Statistics Canada is that food prices were down 0.9 per cent in the year ending in September. That was the first year-over-year food decline since March 2008.

Falling in price were fresh vegetables, cereal products, dairy products