Key takeaways:
- Gas costs have up 48% in the last year.
- Gas costs have increased by 48 percent in the previous year and 12 percent in May alone.
Canada’s inflation rate increased at its most rapid pace in nearly 40 years in the year up to May, as the price of only about everything continues to go up quickly.
Statistics Canada said Wednesday that an uptick in the cost of gasoline was a significant factor driving the overall inflation rate to hit 7.7 percent. Gas costs grew by 12 percent in May alone and are up by 48 percent compared to where they were a year back.
Food costs were also a significant factor to the upside, with grocery bills rising by 9.7 percent over the past year. The price of edible fats and oils soared 30 percent within the food category, the quickest increase.
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Russia’s attack on Ukraine is a significant factor in that uptick, as Ukraine is one of the world’s ruling suppliers of sunflower oil, and the fight has caused deficits in the pantry staple.
Jamil Bhuya, who heads Toronto hotel Burgers n’ Fries Forever, is feeling those increases acutely. From flesh for burgers to flour for buns and even cardboard for packaging, he’s seen the cost of just almost everything he ought to run his business soar during the pandemic. Sharply higher prices for vegetable oils for his fryer are just the latest setback.
“We’ve seen things go up literally 50 percent overnight, and it’s been very hard to stomach,” he told CBC News in a discussion. He has attempted to keep costs low for his clients; he knows there is a limitation to how much he can charge without losing business. “Luckily, burgers have always been recession-proof and even pandemic proof.”
Source – cbc.ca
