The national inflation rate in August was 7.0% compared to 7.6% in July. The improvement was largely due to a drop in gasoline prices.

In Alberta, the inflation rate fell to 6.0% in August compared to 7.4% in July.

The inflation rate was lower in every province in August.

While the lower rates are welcome news, they remain well above the Bank of Canada’s target inflation rate of 2%.

It’s also concerning that the cost of food continued to rise. Nationally, food prices in August were 9.8% higher than 12 months earlier; they were 9.4% higher in Alberta.

Despite the drop in the inflation rate, the Bank of Canada is still likely to hike interest rates with its trend-setting policy rate potentially rising by another 75 basis points to 4.0% by the end of the year.

Answer to the previous trivia question: According to Natural Resources Canada, 909 communities in Canada are economically reliant on at least one natural resource sector (not including agriculture).

Today’s trivia question: What was the total value of publicly-traded Canadian natural resource extraction company assets in 2019?