Inflation slows again in Canada to 2% / Photo: Dave Chan - AFP/File
-
Vessel operator seeks witnesses after Vancouver grounding
-
Bezos grant helps Seattle nonprofit move thousands of families toward housing
-
Shrini Srivastava joins crew of Varanasi-Delhi Vande Bharat Sleeper service
-
US stocks fall before midterm Election Day as technology shares weaken
-
Nearly Half of Australian Workers Overqualified, Survey Finds
-
BLS Polymers makes strong market debut at ₹248 per share
-
RBI eases export-declaration compliance for individual service exporters
-
Petrol and diesel prices remain broadly steady across major Indian cities
-
Reliance shares remain in focus after near-12% surge
-
Derek Tierney Outlines Ten-Year Strategy for National Digital Health System
-
Coal India prepares possible $1 billion Mahanadi Coalfields listing
-
BLS Polymers shares open 65.3% above IPO price
-
Capital-markets shares rally as Motilal Oswal and Angel One lead gains
-
ITC shares rise as analysts anticipate gradual cigarette-business recovery
-
Reliance rally puts historical one-year return pattern in focus
-
The Digital Burden: Why Instant Messaging Feels Like a Full-Time Job
-
Saudi Aramco quarterly profit climbs 34.6% amid elevated oil prices
-
Korea’s Labor Share of GDP Hits Record Low Amid Semiconductor Boom
-
Australia raises benchmark rate to highest level in 18 years
-
littlefish and Halo Dot Partner to Replace Payment Terminals with SoftPOS
-
Asian stocks retreat as AI worries outweigh steep oil-price drop
-
Egypt Accelerates Construction of 341km Sinai Railway Linking Arish and Taba
-
Hamad International Airport stages emergency drills during WATAN 2026
-
Web Summit Qatar 2026 generated QR1 billion economic impact, report says
-
Qatar solar expansion opens scope for technical performance gains
-
OMP Extends UnisonIQ with Agent Library and Agent Studio: AI Agents that Produce Executable Supply Chain Plans
Inflation slows again in Canada to 2%
Inflation in Canada eased to two percent year-on-year in August, hitting the target set by the country's central bank and marking its slowest increase since February 2021, official data showed Tuesday.
The easing was due in part to lower gas prices, down 5.1 percent year-on-year after a 1.9 percent increase in July, Statistics Canada said in a statement.
But prices of clothes and shoes also dropped month-on-month -- a surprise for August when students in Canada are preparing to return to school, fueling demand and usually sending prices up.
"A drop in prices in the month of August has not been observed since 1971," the government agency said.
Rent and mortgage interest costs are still the top contributors to the overall increase in prices, it said.
In recent months, the Bank of Canada has lowered its key interest rate three times, from five percent to the current 4.25 percent.
Inflation has fallen from 2.7 percent in June and 2.5 to July to two percent in August.
"The bottom line then is that inflation remains unthreatening and the Bank of Canada should now focus on trying to stimulate the economy and halting the upward climb in the unemployment rate," CIBC economist Andrew Grantham said.
For RBC economists Nathan Janzen and Abbey Xum, the inflation data marks a "clear" path to further interest rate cuts.
"We continue to expect a gradual rate cutting path (25 basis points per meeting) down to a 3% overnight rate," they said in a note.
D.Goldberg--CPN