September's yearly price growth was still stronger than economists had expected
Canada’s annual rate of inflation was 6.9% in September, marking a third consecutive monthly decline but still coming in higher than most economists had anticipated.
The figure, reported by Statistics Canada on Wednesday, saw the consumer price index inch downwards from 7.0% in August, although economists had predicted ahead of the announcement that it would fall to 6.7% in September.
That surprisingly small decline seems to copper-fasten the likelihood of an oversized interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada next week, with the central bank having made no secret that reducing inflation is currently its overwhelming priority.
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Food prices continued to grow in September, jumping at an annual pace of 11.4% – the highest pace for over 40 years.
Gasoline prices are still around 13% higher than a year ago, although they continued to trend downwards, falling by over 7% in September and declining for a third consecutive month.
Inflation surged to a four-decade high of 8.1% in June, well above the Bank of Canada’s stated target rate of 2%. That’s been driven by a host of factors including supply chain snarls and geopolitical factors such as Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
