Statistics
Canada announced on Tuesday the country’s consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.3
per cent m-o-m in December 2023, following an unrevised 0.1 per cent m-o-m advance
in the previous month. This was the first monthly
drop in CPI since September 2023 (-0.1 per cent m-o-m).
On a y-o-y
basis, Canada’s inflation rate rose 3.4 per cent last month, accelerating from an
unrevised 3.1 per cent gain in November. This marked the first rebound
in the annual rate since August 2023 and represented the highest annual
inflation in three months.
Economists had anticipated
inflation would decrease 0.3 per cent m-o-m but rise 3.4 per cent y-o-y in December.
According to
the report, the December monthly decline in the headline CPI was mainly driven
by decreases in prices for travel tours (-18.2 per cent m-o-m) and gasoline
(-4.4 per cent m-o-m). Meanwhile, the acceleration in the annual rate of inflation
was attributable to a jump in gasoline
prices (+1.4 per cent y-o-y), resulting from a base-year effect.
The trimmed-mean
CPI – the preferred measure of core inflation of the Bank of Canada - surged
3.7 per cent y-o-y in December, following an unrevised 3.5 per cent y-o-y jump in November.
This marked the strongest annual gain since August 2023 (+4.0 per cent y-o-y).
Economists had predicted
a gain of 3.5 per cent y-o-y.