Yellowknife’s consumer price index has recorded its first month-to-month decrease of the year, largely on the back of falling gas prices.
The index fell from 153.2 to 152.7, a 0.3-percent decrease that represents the first dip in the city’s cost of living measurement since November last year.
The consumer price index assesses the cost of various goods and services each month to assess how living expenses are changing for residents over time.
The index had risen in every prior month of 2022, not only in Yellowknife but across Canada and much of the world. Rising inflation is attributed in part to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a consequent fuel supply crisis.
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Despite the slight decrease between July and August, prices in Yellowknife remain significantly higher than they were a year ago.
“Between August 2021 and August 2022, Yellowknife consumer prices rose in all eight major components,” the NWT Bureau of Statistics stated on Tuesday.
“Transportation and food experienced the highest increase, both rising by 9.7 percent. While transportation prices were higher in August compared to one year prior, they declined compared to the previous month. The monthly decline in transportation was largely due to lower gasoline prices, which declined by 11.4 percent between July and August 2022.”
The consumer price index across Canada also decreased by 0.3 percent from July to August.
