Canada’s annual inflation rate held steady in November at 4.7% – National

Statistics Canada said the annual inflation rate remained stable in November as the consumer price index increased 4.7% from a year ago.

This result is in line with the year-on-year increase in October, which is the largest year-on-year increase in the consumer price index since February 2003.

A key driver of inflation in November was again gasoline prices, up 43.6% year-on-year, slightly above October’s 41.7% year-on-year increase. last.

The annual inflation rate in November would be 3.6% excluding gasoline prices, the same as in October.

Also driving the rise in the consumer price index last month was higher food and furniture prices. Food prices rose 4.7% in November from the same month a year ago, the biggest increase since January 2015 when prices rose 5.4%, the agency reported.

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November marks eight straight months where Headline Inflation has exceeded the Bank of Canada’s target range of one to three percent, not seen since a similar run ended in November. December 1991.

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Stephen Tapp, chief economist for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said high inflation not only hit consumers hard but also increased costs for businesses as the economy grapples with labor shortages. dynamics, supply chain disruptions and new uncertainty due to the latest increases in COVID cases.

“In the short term, profitability will be limited, and if businesses pass on increased costs to consumers, then the pressure will last longer,” he said.

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The average of the three measures for core inflation, which is considered a better gauge of underlying price pressures and is closely watched by the Bank of Canada, was 2.73% for November, up slightly from October, Statistics Canada said. The most recent high average was November 2008.

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In a sign that the economy is weathering the COVID-19 shock, Statistics Canada also released November inflation as the first time without special consideration for some goods and services. Service unavailable due to pandemic.

The agency also noted that the data was largely unaffected by the November flooding in British Columbia because most prices were collected before it happened.

The Bank of Canada and the federal government renewed their agreement to target inflation this week.

They agreed to keep their inflation target in the 1 to 3% range, but the central bank decision will also officially monitor the labor market more closely when it does.
interest rate decision.