Reuters highlighted the impact of the 5.6 percent month-on-month decline in airfare, the largest since 1995, while the Wall Street Journal led with the 3.1 percent rise in shelter costs, which make up a third of the Consumer Price Index.
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The Bank of Canada’s core index, which excludes some of the most volatile items, was up 2.4 per cent from a year ago.
Thanks to Canada’s 1.3 per cent inflation bump since last July, with a one per cent increase in June alone, the cost of putting food on the table is becoming virtually unaffordable. Quebec sales increased 3.1 per cent to $10.0 billion.
Inventories edged up 1.1 percent to hit a record high, with gains registered in six of seven subsectors.
The low Canadian dollar was largely responsible for the increase in grocery and clothing prices, while the low oil price was nearly entirely responsible for the drop in gas prices, he said.
On a regional basis, sales were up across the board, rising for a second consecutive month in all provinces (except for Saskatchewan’s modest decline of 0.1% in May).
Nationally, energy prices fell by 7.4 per cent while the price of gasoline tumbled by more than 12 per cent.
Despite some data this week that surprised on the upside and an inflation rate that picked up in July, the overall picture of a weak economic growth in 2Q combined with above-target inflation is not much changed.
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Canada may have been in recession in the first half of the year as the oil-exporting country has been hit by the drop in crude prices, and economists will parse the report for signs an expected rebound is taking hold. Market expectations were for a 0.2% gain, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada…
