Exercise - statistics Canada

Taking it to the net 1

1. What is the latest CPI indicator? What percentage change was there from the previous year? what products reflected an increase in price since last year?

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.1% in the 12 months to July, following a 2.4% increase in June.

Prices increased in all major components in the 12 months to July. Higher prices for shelter and food contributed the most to the rise in the CPI. At the same time, the transportation index led the deceleration in the CPI.

Shelter costs rose 3.0% in the 12 months to July, after advancing 2.9% in June. Natural gas prices increased 20.4% in July compared with the same month the previous year. Consumers also paid more for homeowners' home and mortgage insurance as well as property taxes on a year-over-year basis in July.

Food prices increased 2.9% year over year in July, matching the rise in June. Prices for food purchased from stores rose 3.2% in the 12 months to July, led by higher prices for meat (+9.2%). Prices for fresh vegetables rose 7.5% on a year-over-year basis in July, after increasing 9.5% in June. On a month-to-month basis, prices for fresh vegetables fell 3.0% in July. Food purchased from restaurants cost 2.1% more in July compared with the same month a year earlier.

Transportation costs rose 1.3% on a year-over-year basis in July, a smaller gain than in June (+2.2%). Gasoline prices increased 2.1% in the 12 months to July, after rising 5.4% in June. On a monthly basis, consumers paid 1.9% less for gasoline, with prices falling more in Western Canada than in Eastern Canada. In addition, prices for the purchase of passenger vehicles rose 1.3% year over year in July, following a 1.6% increase in June.

The index for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products increased 4.7% in the 12 months to July. This rise was mainly due to a 10.7% year-over-year advance in cigarette prices. In 2014, the federal excise tax on tobacco, as well as the tobacco taxes in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia increased.

     2.   What is the latest unemployment rate indicator? How many new full-time jobs were created? How many part-time jobs were created? What sectors created these new jobs? What sectors laid off employees? What province saw the greatest increase in jobs? What province reflects the largest unemployment rate for this past quarter?

The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 7.0%. Adjusted to the concepts used in the United States, the unemployment rate in Canada was 6.1% in July, compared with the US rate of 6.2%.

  In the 12 months to July, employment increased by 157,000 or 0.9%, with most of the growth in   part-time work. The total hours worked were up slightly (+0.3%) compared with July 2013.
  Employment rose by 42,000 in July, the result of an increase in part-time work (+60,000). 

Employment in educational services increased by 46,000 in July, mainly in primary and secondary schools in Ontario. 

In July, there were 17,000 more people employed in information, culture and recreation. Compared with a recent low in July 2013, employment in this industry has increased by 55,000 (+7.3%).

The number of people employed in construction declined by 39,000 in July, offsetting an increase in the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment in this industry was down by 46,000 (-3.4%), the result of declines in the fall of 2013.

Employment in health care and social assistance fell by 26,000 in July, mostly in the social assistance sector in Quebec. Compared with a recent low in July 2013, employment in this industry was up by 90,000 (+4.2%).

Private sector employment increased by 55,000 in July, while the number of public sector employees edged up slightly and self-employment declined by 37,000. Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of employees increased in both the private sector (+1.2% or +141,000) and the public sector (+1.9% or +69,000). Self-employment was down 2.0% (-54,000) over this 12-month period.