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Inflation falls to 2.7 per cent on lower gas prices; B.C.'s rate lowest
Inflation falls to 2.7 per cent on lower gas prices; B.C.'s rate lowest
OTTAWA — Canadian consumer prices came in largely as expected for July as lower gasoline prices and more comparable sale-tax rates to a year earlier helped bring the inflation rate down.
Annual inflation was 2.7 per cent in July, Statistics Canada said Friday, down from 3.1 per cent in June.
The core rate, which excludes volatile items such as energy and some foods, rose to 1.6 per cent from 1.3 per cent.
Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected the July inflation rate to be 2.8 per cent and the core rate to be 1.6 per cent.
The Bank of Canada aims for an overall inflation rate of about two per cent and monitors the core rate for underlying trends.
Sal Guatieri, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, said the new inflation data gives the central bank room to keep its benchmark interest rate at a low one per cent to help the domestic economy in the face of global uncertainty.
"While Canadian inflation has been more volatile than usual of late, core inflation looks to settle just below the two per cent inflation target, providing an anchor for the headline rate to gravitate toward," he said in a research note. "The tame core reading buys the Bank of Canada time to remain on the sidelines and worry about global recession risks."
"Today's report . . . contained few surprises," added TD Economics deputy chief economist Derek Burleton. "Underlying inflation trends point to an inflation genie remaining comfortably inside the bottle."
Dawn Desjardins, assistant chief economist for RBC Economics Research, said overall inflation probably declined even further this month due lower commodity prices, particularly for crude oil.
On a month-to-month basis, Canadian consumer prices were up 0.1 per cent in July on a seasonally adjusted basis after declining 0.3 per cent in June.
Among the factors contributing to the lower annual inflation rate last month, harmonized sales taxes in Ontario and British Columbia, as well as an increase in the sales tax in Nova Scotia — all of which came into effect in July last year — are no longer causing a difference in year-to-year prices.
Also, the effect of gasoline inflation subsided somewhat, with prices being up 23.5 per cent from a year earlier compared to 28.5 per cent in June.
Food prices were up 4.3 per cent in July from a year earlier, as they were in June. Within this category, food bought from stores was 5.1 per cent more expensive and 2.2 per cent higher at restaurants.
Most major price categories saw slower annual inflation in July than the previous month. In transportation, costs were up 6.5 per cent compared to seven per cent in June. This included gasoline prices and also considered a one per cent decline in car prices.
Shelter costs were up 1.3 per cent from a year earlier compared to 1.7 per cent the month before. This factored in declines in costs for mortgage interest and natural gas of 1.9 and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
Clothing and footwear prices were up one per cent annually in July compared to 0.7 per cent in June, making it the only major price category in which annual inflation accelerated. |
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發表於 2011-8-19 07:38
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