The most recent Consumer Price Index report was released and here are a few of the most important points.
Inflation rose by 0.5% year over year in July to 3.3% due to increases in mortgage, food and energy prices. This puts Canada’s headline rate above the U.S. for the first time in the past 3 years.
However, there was a silver lining for variable rate mortgage holders with a modest slowing in core CPI measures. This may be enough to make policymakers consider holding the rate at their next announcement on September 6.
Tiff Macklem and his associates expect inflation to remain near 3% for the next year, with the next stage in the decline towards the 2% target “expected to take longer and is becoming more uncertain”.