Statistics Canada released its consumer price index (CPI) for June on July 18.<\/p>\n
Following a 3.4% rise in May, June rose 2.8% year-on-year.\u00a0However, the rate of increase has slowed and is the lowest level since March 2021.<\/p>\n
The declaration was broad-based, with lower gasoline prices leading to a slowdown in overall inflation, but ex-gasoline inflation rose 4.0% in June, following 4.4% in May.<\/p>\n
Food and mortgage interest rates are driving inflation.\u00a0Food prices rose 9.1% and mortgage rates rose 30.1% in June. Food prices were almost flat from May’s 9.0% increase but remained the highest of all items.<\/p>\n
Among food items, the highest increases were meat (6.9%), bakery products (12.9%), dairy products (7.4%), and other prepared foods (10.2%).\u00a0Fresh fruit prices rose 10.4% year-on-year, up from 5.7% in May.\u00a0Eating out was 6.6%, slightly lower than May’s 6.8%, but still contributing to the rise in CPI.<\/p>\n
Gasoline prices in June fell 21.6% year-on-year, surpassing the 18.3% drop seen in May.\u00a0Besides petrol prices, mobile phone services fell 14.7%, down from 8.7% in May.\u00a0This is largely due to price drops and promotions on data plans.\u00a0Internet prices also fell 3.2%.\u00a0We believe that promotions mainly in Ontario and Quebec are causing the price drop.<\/p>\n
The increase in mortgage interest rates is largely due to the Bank of Canada’s policy interest rate hike.\u00a0The Bank of Canada cut its policy rate to 5% this month and will raise interest rates 10 times from March 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"