Inflation stood at 5.2% in February in Canada
Food inflation is still making its mark on your food bill. #x27;groceries. Food prices rose 10.6% year over year in February.
Food inflation is growing faster than headline inflation.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 5.2%, on an annual basis, in February in the country, says Statistics Canada.
For a second month in a row, therefore, the observed year-over-year slowdown in February 2023 is attributable to a year-on-year effect, which occurred due to x27;a strong monthly price increase in February 2022, against the background of the start of the war in Ukraine.
In other words, the slippage effect is explained when a large upward price change that occurred during the reference month ceases to influence the 12-month price change, explains the federal agency.
Excluding food and energy, prices rose 4.8% year-over-year in February 2023, following a 4.9% rise on a year-over-year basis. year to year in January.
However, if you seek respite from inflation, your grocery bill will leave you hungry. For the seventh month in a row, the price of food purchased from stores jumped 10% and more compared to the same period a year earlier. In February, the price of food purchased from stores rose 10.6% year over year, Statistics Canada notes.
It is mainly the weather conditions and the price of inputs that have inflated the price of food. The rise in the price of fruit juices was particularly strong, at 15.7% year-on-year in February. The supply of oranges has been disrupted by Yellow Dragon Disease and weather events like Hurricane Ian.
If you find grain products, sugar and treats, fish, shellfish and other seafood to be more expensive, you're right. Year-over-year price increases in these categories in February accelerated, 14.8% for grain products, 6% for sugar and 7.4% for those from the sea.
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On the other hand, some products saw their rise slow between January and February. This is the case for non-alcoholic beverages, meat, vegetables and vegetable preparations and bakery products.
This is also the case for dairy products, whose prices rose more slowly year-over-year in February.
Owners of oil-powered vehicles and buildings saw it in February: Energy prices fell 0.6% year-over-year last month. x27; other, mainly due to the price of gasoline, which has gone down. This situation is attributable to the increase in inventories among our neighbors to the south.
Notably, this was the first annual decline since January 2021.
Growth in prices for fuel oil and other fuels slowed year over year, in February (+24.3%) compared to January (+36.5%), according to Statistics Canada. But as landlords had to shell out more due to rising interest rates, this drop went unnoticed.
Small consolation for tenants, the growth in housing Housing slowed year-over-year for a third month in a row, it added. The increase was 6.6% in January and 6.1% in February.
The slowdown in inflation continues in Canada after eight consecutive hikes in the key rate since March 2022 by the Bank of Canada, which tries to contain annual inflation around 2%, its target.
After hitting an annual high of 8.1% in June 2022, the CPI has essentially been flat all fall. Inflation was 6.9% in September and October, before dropping to 6.8% in November, 6.3% in December and 5.9% in January.
In January, the country's central bank set its key rate at 4.5%. The institution suggested at the time that the rate hike was probably over. However, in February, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, said that he was ready to act if necessary.
If the x27;Inflation remains high and does not come back down to the 2.0% target, we will be fully prepared to raise interest rates further, he said.
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The labor market is still showing strength in the country. After the creation of 150,000 jobs in January, 22,000 jobs were created in February in Canada.
