Items in Canada cost a tad more to buy in October, according to figures released this morning by Statistics Canada.
Last month’s consumer price index came out 0.2% higher, besting expectations for a rise of only 0.1%, according to the nation’s number crunchers. The core rate rose by 0.3%, also more than the expected 0.1% gain.
Year over year, the headline inflation rate slipped to 2.9% in October from 3.2% in September. The annual core rate edged down to 2.1% from the 2.2% recorded in September.
Canada’s biggest bank chimed in with what the numbers mean for consumers and investors alike.
This morning’s report from RBC Economics told us that the agents of the monthly hike were largely prices for electricity, property taxes, passenger vehicles and men's clothing.
Moderating these increases, the report continues, were declines in the cost of traveler accommodation, gasoline and homeowners' maintenance and repairs.
"The rise in the headline rate was contained by falling prices for fresh vegetables and gasoline, two items that are not included in the core measure. Prices for motor vehicles rose again in October by 1.4%, only modestly slower than September's 1.9% rise.
"We expect," the bank went on, "that with the end of the supply chain constraints in the auto industry, dealers will begin to apply discounts to auto prices resulting in some reversal of the three consecutive monthly increases in prices. Clothing prices also rose again in October but at a slower 1.2% following the 4.9% surge in September."
RBC also said Canada's headline inflation rate slipped back below the upper end of the Bank of Canada's 1% to 3% target in October after averaging 3.0% in the third quarter. "Gasoline prices marked the fifth consecutive monthly decline and were 5.8% lower than May's recent peak.
"With prices continuing to ease in the first half of November, the pressure being exerted on headline inflation will dissipate."
