Canada’s
inflation rate
cooled to 1.7 per cent in April, helped by the removal of the
consumer carbon tax
and low oil prices, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday.
Canada’s annual inflation rate had been 2.3 per cent in March. Excluding energy, April’s inflation rate would have been 2.9 per cent.
Gasoline led the decline in
consumer energy prices
, falling 18.1 per cent year-over-year and natural gas prices fell by 14.1 per cent. Global demand for crude oil has fallen thanks to lower international trade brought on by tariffs and increased supply by OPEC.
On a month-over-month basis, the consumer price index fell by 0.1 per cent from March to April.
Despite the headline number, core inflation, the measures the
Bank of Canada
prefers to look at when making its monetary policy decisions, accelerated in April.
CPI-common rose 2.5 per cent year-over-year, compared to 2.3 per cent the month before. CPI-median rose 3.2 per cent, up from 2.8 per cent in March and CPI-trim rose 3.1 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent.
Canadians paid more for groceries last month, with prices of food purchased in stores increasing by 3.8 per cent year-over-year, compared to 3.2 per cent in March. The increases were mainly due to drought and supply issues, with fresh vegetables, coffee and tea, fresh or frozen beef and sugar leading the price gains.
Price increases of groceries have outpaced the all-items consumer price index for three months in a row.
More to come…
• Email: jgowling@postmedia.com
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Canada's inflation rate cools to 1.7%
2025-05-20 12:43:19
