The long trek back to 2% took a step backward in April, with the national headline inflation rate rising slightly from 4.3% in March to 4.4% in April. The rate has been falling every month since July 2022.

In Alberta, the inflation rate increased by a percentage point, going from 3.3% in March to 4.3% in April.

This is the first increase in the year-over-year inflation rate in Alberta since October 2022.

Energy costs in Alberta were lower than a year ago, but because they were 11.8% higher than in March, they fell by a much smaller rate on a year-over-year basis. This helped push the annual inflation rate higher in April.

Food prices remained elevated with a year-over-year inflation rate in Alberta of 8.1% and 8.3% nationally, though the annual rate of food inflation fell for the third straight month

Removing food and energy, “core” inflation in Alberta was running at 4.3% in April, unchanged from March.

Core inflation in Canada edged down slightly to 4.4% from 4.5% in March.

So far this year (January to April), consumer prices are 4.1% higher in Alberta over the same period last year, compared to a 5.0% gain nationally.

While there are always many ways to slice and dice the reasons for changes in headline inflation, the higher rate in April is not what anyone wanted to see.  Bloomberg reports that economists were expecting a decline in the national headline rate to 4.1%.

Still, it is only one increase after a solid string of decreases so it is unlikely on its own to divert the Bank of Canada from its current course of no more interest rate hikes.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The median age of the global population in 1950 was about 22 compared to over 30 today.

Today’s trivia question: On average, roughly how much money does the U.S. federal government borrow each business day?