Statistics Canada reported Tuesday the country’s consumer price index
(CPI) increased 0.4 percent m-o-m in February, following an unrevised 0.5
percent m-o-m rise in the previous month.
On the y-o-y basis, Canada’s inflation rate climbed 5.2 percent last
month, sharply decelerating from an unrevised
5.9 percent jump in January due to a base-year effect. That represented the weakest
annual inflation rate since January 2022 (+5.1 percent).
Economists had forecast inflation would advance 0.5 percent m-o-m and 5.4
percent y-o-y in February.
According to the report, the February monthly gain in the headline CPI
was due to increases in 7 of 8 major components, led by clothing and footwear (+1.9
percent m-o-m), household operations, furnishings and equipment (+1.1 percent
m-o-m) and recreation, education and reading (+0.9 percent m-o-m). These gains,
however, were partly offset by a decline in transportation (-0.4 percent m-o-m),
which, in its turn, was underpinned by a surge in gasoline prices (-0.1 percent
m-o-m).
Meanwhile, the closely watched the Bank of Canada's core index soared
4.7 percent y-o-y in February, following an unrevised 5.0 percent y-o-y surge
in January. That was the smallest reading since January 2022 (+4.3 percent
y-o-y). Economists had expected an increase of
4.8 percent y-o-y.