The first thing to note about today’s inflation numbers is the pace of price growth has, thankfully, slowed. The headline inflation rate in Alberta went from 8.4% in June to 7.4% in July. The national rate also improved, falling from 8.1% to 7.6%.

The second thing to note is that, while the slower pace of growth is a positive development, the inflation rate is still very high and consumers are not going to notice much difference.

Gasoline prices were lower than in June and we got a bit of a break on our electricity bills in the form of a provincial rebate, but consumers are still paying a lot more overall than they were a year ago and, according to Statistics Canada, “upward pressure on prices remained broad-based.”

This brings us to the third thing to note, or in this case, to ask about today’s data: have we turned a corner? Does the modest improvement in July mean that headline inflation will continue to ease in the months ahead?

The answer is not particularly definitive: hopefully we are at the front end of a downward trend. The problem is that gas prices could spike again if, for example, geopolitical tensions push up the price of oil and we are simply not sure if interest rate increases will do the trick this time around when it comes to cooling off price growth (at least not without rising a lot more than expected).

Answer to the previous trivia question: Capable of producing objects up to 100 feet long by 22 feet wide by 10 feet high, the University of Maine is home to one of the world’s largest 3D printers.

Today’s trivia question: In what year did President Ford declare inflation to be “public enemy number one?”