Inflation in Canada rose at its fastest pace in a decade in April, mostly due to the statistical comparison to last year when prices tanked amid early pandemic shutdowns, but also as gasoline and shelter costs rose, data showed on Wednesday.
Canada‘s annual inflation rate rose to 3.4%, from 2.2% in March, Statistics Canada said. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the annual rate to rise to 3.2% in April.
A third wave of COVID-19 infections prompted many Canadian provinces to again impose strict restrictions in April, though generally not as harsh as those a year ago.
“If we can post numbers like this in lockdown with stay-at-home orders, just imagine what happens when the economy reopens. This is an across-the-board surprise,” said Derek Holt, vice president of Capital Markets Economics at Scotiabank.
Gasoline prices rose 62.5% in April, the largest year-over-year increase on record. Fuel prices fell sharply in April 2020, as the pandemic limited travel and temporarily reduced international trade. Gasoline was up 1.8% on the month.
Shelter price gains also accelerated in April, rising 3.2% year-over-year compared with 2.4% in March, mostly due to demand for single-family homes. The homeowners’ replacement index posted its largest gain since 1989.
Food prices acceleration slowed, rising 0.9% in April versus 1.8% in March, in part due to lower fresh vegetable costs. Canada imports many fresh fruits and vegetables, and the strong Canadian dollar makes those imports cheaper.
The Canadian dollar hit a six-year high on Tuesday. It steadied at about 1.2070 to the greenback, or 82.85 U.S. cents, after the inflation data.
CPI common, which the Bank of Canada calls the best gauge of the economy’s underperformance, was 1.7%, in line with analyst expectations. CPI median and trim both rose to 2.3%.
The Bank of Canada said last month that it expects inflation to temporarily hit the top of its 1%-to-3% control range, before returning to around 2% in the second half of the year.
The central bank has signaled it could start lifting interest rates in the second half of 2022.
“Underlying core measures are still running around (the Bank of Canada‘s) 2% target rate, but the more firming we see, the more likely it moves off the sidelines earlier than was expected a few months ago,” said Nathan Janzen, senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada.
(Reporting by Julie Gordon; additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Fergal Smith and Jeff Lewis in Toronto; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kirsten Donovan, Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
