Business

Canada’s inflation falls to 27-month low but underlying pressures persist

Published

1 year ago

July 19, 2023

OTTAWA, July 18 (Reuters) – Canada’s annual inflation rate dropped more than expected to a 27-month low of 2.8% in June led by lower energy prices, data showed on Tuesday, though food and shelter cost increases persisted despite 10 interest rate hikes in less than 18 months.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast inflation to drop to 3.0% from 3.4% in May. Month-over-month, the consumer price index was up 0.1%, Statistics Canada said, which was also lower than the 0.3% forecast.

June’s reading, which benefited from a comparison to the four-decade high inflation a year earlier, means the annual rate was within the Bank of Canada’s 1% to 3% control range for the first time since March 2021. The bank targets 2% inflation.

“Inflation is definitely moving in the right direction, but we’re seeing stickier and more persistent core measures,” said Michael Greenberg, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions.

Excluding food and energy, prices rose 3.5% compared with a 4.0% gain in May. Grocery prices rose 9.1% year-over-year in June, a tick higher than the increase recorded in May. Prices of food from restaurants slowed slightly in June from May.

Shelter costs increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in June from May.

The average of two of the Bank of Canada’s (BoC) core measures of underlying inflation, CPI-median and CPI-trim, came in at 3.8% compared with 3.9% in May.

“The Bank of Canada’s preferred measures of core inflation, which exclude significant moves in individual categories, show that underlying price pressures remain sticky,” said Royce Mendes, head of macro strategy at Desjardins Group.

The three-month annualized rate of the core median measure remained at 3.6%, while the trimmed mean indicator accelerated to 4.0% from 3.9% in May, Mendes said.

Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking to reporters on a call from India where she had attended a G20 meeting, hailed the inflation report as a “milestone moment” and said inflation was lower in Canada than in any other G7 country.

Freeland urged Canadian businesses – especially food retailers – “to be responsible right now and to support Canadians and the Canadian economy by a responsible approach to their pricing.”

The Bank of Canada last week raised rates to a 22-year high of 5.0%, its tenth rate increase since March of last year, and said it could hike them further if fresh data shows inflation is stalling above its target.

The central bank, citing excess demand, said last week that it expects inflation to remain around 3% over the next year before dropping to the bank’s 2% target by mid-2025, six months later than previously anticipated.

“We’re still not at 2%,” said Jules Boudreau, senior economist at Mackenzie Investments. “So there’s still some work to be done. But policy is probably restrictive enough at the moment to do that.”

Money markets trimmed bets for a rate hike at the BoC’s next meeting in December to a 20% probability from 25% before the data.

The price of gasoline, which led the slowdown, fell 21.6% compared with June 2022 when China, the largest importer of crude oil, eased some COVID-19 public health restrictions that contributed to higher global demand.

The Canadian dollar was trading 0.2% lower at 1.3225 to the greenback, or 75.61 U.S. cents.

Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; additional reporting by Fergal Smith and Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Dale Smith, Will Dunham, Alexandra Hudson and Deepa Babington

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Business

Carry On Canadian Business. Carry On!

Published

20 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Steven Kaszab

Human Resources Officers must be very busy these days what with the general turnover of employees in our retail and business sectors. It is hard enough to find skilled people let alone potential employees willing to be trained. Then after the training, a few weeks go by then they come to you and ask for a raise. You refuse as there simply is no excess money in the budget and away they fly to wherever they come from, trained but not willing to put in the time to achieve that wanted raise.

I have had potentials come in and we give them a test to see if they do indeed know how to weld, polish or work with wood. 2-10 we hire, and one of those is gone in a week or two. Ask that they want overtime, and their laughter leaving the building is loud and unsettling. Housing starts are doing well but way behind because those trades needed to finish a project simply don’t come to the site, with delay after delay. Some people’s attitudes are just too funny. A recent graduate from a Ivy League university came in for an interview. The position was mid-management potential, but when we told them a three month period was needed and then they would make the big bucks they disappeared as fast as they arrived.

Government agencies are really no help, sending us people unsuited or unwilling to carry out the jobs we offer. Handing money over to staffing firms whose referrals are weak and ineffectual. Perhaps with the Fall and Winter upon us, these folks will have to find work and stop playing on the golf course or cottaging away. Tried to hire new arrivals in Canada but it is truly difficult to find someone who has a real identity card and is approved to live and work here. Who do we hire? Several years ago my father’s firm was rocking and rolling with all sorts of work. It was a summer day when the immigration officers arrived and 30+ employees hit the bricks almost immediately. The investigation that followed had threats of fines thrown at us by the officials. Good thing we kept excellent records, photos and digital copies. We had to prove the illegal documents given to us were as good as the real McCoy.

Restauranteurs, builders, manufacturers, finishers, trades-based firms, and warehousing are all suspect in hiring illegals, yet that becomes secondary as Toronto increases its minimum wage again bringing our payroll up another $120,000. Survival in Canada’s financial and business sectors is questionable for many. Good luck Chuck!. at least your carbon tax refund check should be arriving soon.

Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
skaszab@yahoo.ca

Business

Imperial to cut prices in NWT community after low river prevented resupply by barges

Published

23 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Anne Joseph

NORMAN WELLS, N.W.T. – Imperial Oil says it will temporarily reduce its fuel prices in a Northwest Territories community that has seen costs skyrocket due to low water on the Mackenzie River forcing the cancellation of the summer barge resupply season.

Imperial says in a Facebook post it will cut the air transportation portion that’s included in its wholesale price in Norman Wells for diesel fuel, or heating oil, from $3.38 per litre to $1.69 per litre, starting Tuesday.

The air transportation increase, it further states, will be implemented over a longer period.

It says Imperial is closely monitoring how much fuel needs to be airlifted to the Norman Wells area to prevent runouts until the winter road season begins and supplies can be replenished.

Gasoline and heating fuel prices approached $5 a litre at the start of this month.

Norman Wells’ town council declared a local emergency on humanitarian grounds last week as some of its 700 residents said they were facing monthly fuel bills coming to more than $5,000.

“The wholesale price increase that Imperial has applied is strictly to cover the air transportation costs. There is no Imperial profit margin included on the wholesale price. Imperial does not set prices at the retail level,” Imperial’s statement on Monday said.

The statement further said Imperial is working closely with the Northwest Territories government on ways to help residents in the near term.

“Imperial Oil’s decision to lower the price of home heating fuel offers immediate relief to residents facing financial pressures. This step reflects a swift response by Imperial Oil to discussions with the GNWT and will help ease short-term financial burdens on residents,” Caroline Wawzonek, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Infrastructure, said in a news release Monday.

Wawzonek also noted the Territories government has supported the community with implementation of a fund supporting businesses and communities impacted by barge cancellations. She said there have also been increases to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy in Norman Wells, and continued support for heating costs for eligible Income Assistance recipients.

Additionally, she said the government has donated $150,000 to the Norman Wells food bank.

In its declaration of a state of emergency, the town said the mayor and council recognized the recent hike in fuel prices has strained household budgets, raised transportation costs, and affected local businesses.

It added that for the next three months, water and sewer service fees will be waived for all residents and businesses.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

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Business

U.S. vote has Canadian business leaders worried about protectionist policies: KPMG

Published

23 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – A new report says many Canadian business leaders are worried about economic uncertainties related to the looming U.S. election.

The survey by KPMG in Canada of 735 small- and medium-sized businesses says 87 per cent fear the Canadian economy could become “collateral damage” from American protectionist policies that lead to less favourable trade deals and increased tariffs

It says that due to those concerns, 85 per cent of business leaders in Canada polled are reviewing their business strategies to prepare for a change in leadership.

The concerns are primarily being felt by larger Canadian companies and sectors that are highly integrated with the U.S. economy, such as manufacturing, automotive, transportation and warehousing, energy and natural resources, as well as technology, media and telecommunications.

Shaira Nanji, a KPMG Law partner in its tax practice, says the prospect of further changes to economic and trade policies in the U.S. means some Canadian firms will need to look for ways to mitigate added costs and take advantage of potential trade relief provisions to remain competitive.

Both presidential candidates have campaigned on protectionist policies that could cause uncertainty for Canadian trade, and whoever takes the White House will be in charge during the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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