Canada’s annual inflation rate in May was unchanged from the previous month at 1.7 per cent as a drop in gasoline costs continued to keep the overall index stable. Prices of shelter, food and transportation also cooled.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday held its key policy rate at 2.75 per cent, its first pause after seven consecutive cuts, and said that the uncertainty around U.S. tariffs made it impossible to issue regular economic forecasts.
Canada's annual inflation surprisingly slowed in March to 2.3 per cent, three notches below the prior month, largely helped by lower gasoline and travel tour prices, data showed on Tuesday.
Canada's annual inflation rate unexpectedly dropped by a tick to 1.9 per cent in November, driven by a broad-based slowdown in prices, while the consumer price index was unchanged on a monthly basis, data showed on Tuesday.
Canada's unemployment rate rose more than expected to 6.8 per cent in November, a near-eight-year high excluding the pandemic years, even as the economy added a net 50,500 jobs, data showed on Friday, boosting chances of a large interest rate cut next week.
Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated more than expected to 2.0 per cent in October as gas prices fell less than the previous month, data showed on Tuesday, shrinking market bets for a bigger rate cut next month.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday reduced its key benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 3.75 per cent, its first bigger-than-usual move in more than four years, and hailed signs the country has returned to an era of low inflation.
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed more than expected to 1.6 per cent in September, data showed on Tuesday, prompting markets to increase bets of a 50 basis point rate cut next week. The easing of inflation, which was mainly led by a huge drop in the price of gasoline, was the smallest annual increase in consumer prices since February 2021, Statistics Canada said.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday trimmed its key interest rate by 25 basis points for the second month in a row, bringing it to 4.5 per cent, and said more reductions in borrowing costs were likely if inflation continued to cool in line with forecasts.