Close X
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

Statistics Canada says annual inflation rate slowed to 3.1% in October

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 21 Nov, 2023 10:40 AM
  • Statistics Canada says annual inflation rate slowed to 3.1% in October

The inflation rate slowed to 3.1 per cent on a year-over-year basis, down from 3.8 per cent in September, as the price of gasoline fell, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

The agency said the price drivers paid for gasoline in October fell 7.8 per cent from a year earlier compared with a 7.5 per cent increase in September, driven partly by a spike in gasoline prices in October 2022 after OPEC announced production cuts.

Excluding gasoline, Statistics Canada says the consumer price index was up 3.6 per cent for October, following a 3.7 per cent increase for September.

Prices for goods were up 1.6 per cent, while prices for services were up 4.6 per cent, largely due to higher prices for travel tours, rent and property taxes and other special charges.

Bank of Montreal chief economist Douglas Porter said the inflation report drives home the point that there is no need for further rate hikes by the Bank of Canada, especially with the economy already struggling to grow at all and underlying inflation calming.

"However, before the bank can even begin seriously considering rate relief, we'll need to see more evidence that services inflation is also moderating—that could be at least another six months down the road," Porter wrote in a note to clients.

Statistics Canada said the largest contributors to inflation continued to be mortgage interest costs, food purchased from stores and rent.

Mortgage interest costs were up 30.5 per cent compared with a year ago, while the cost of rent was up 8.2 per cent.

While grocery prices rose faster than overall inflation, Statistics Canada said the pace continued to slow. Grocery prices were up 5.4 per cent year-over-year in October compared with a 5.8 per cent move higher in September.

The inflation report came ahead of the federal government's fall economic update expected this afternoon.

The decline in inflation should be welcome news for the Bank of Canada as it looks for evidence of a sustained slowdown in consumer price growth.

The central bank opted to hold its key interest rate steady at five per cent at its last rate decision, but it has said it is prepared to raise rates again if needed to bring inflation under control.

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem is scheduled to give a speech on Wednesday to the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce on the high cost of inflation, while the central bank's final interest rate decision for the year is set for Dec. 6.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting
Around 1 A-M on June 30th last year, police responded to reports of gunshots. Officers arrived to find 37-year old Mehdi “Damian” Eslahian suffering from gunshot wounds outside a home in Port Coquitlam, and he died at the scene.

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report
British Columbia's independent forests watchdog is calling for the provincial government to make critical changes to how it manages forests to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. It comes as the largest wildfire in the province's history, the Donnie Creek wildfire, continues to burn out of control in the remote northeast.  

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report

BOC outlook survey

BOC outlook survey
The Bank of Canada's latest business outlook survey suggests businesses still anticipate larger-than-normal wage and price increases over the next year. The central bank reports expectations are shifting closer to what they were before the pandemic.

BOC outlook survey

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice
Fraser Health issued an overdose alert Thursday saying the juice that tested positive contained cannabis and suspected synthetic cannabinoids and was sold in refillable, unmarked and unbranded cartridges. It did not specify where the product was sold.

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park
Team manager Ryan Smith with Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue says Esther Wang was located Thursday night and has gone home with her family after a medical assessment. RCMP say the 16-year-old from Langley, B.C., was part of a group of four people who were hiking in Golden Ears Provincial Park on Tuesday.

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger
On May 23rd just before 6:00 p.m., a physical altercation took place between two men, not known to each other, as they were boarding the same bus at the Marine Drive Canada Line Station in Vancouver. During the course of the altercation, a bus window was broken and a bystander was injured.  

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger