Canada’s inflation hits 6.8% in April, highest since January 1991

Canada’s consumer prices rose 6.8 per cent year-over-year in April, a slight increase from 6.7 per cent in March, Statistics Canada said.

The year-over-year increase in April was largely driven by food and shelter prices. Gas prices increased at a slower pace in April compared with March, moderating the acceleration of the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) in April, the national statistical office added on Wednesday.

Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 5.8 per cent year-over-year in April, after a 5.5 per cent gain in March. This was the fastest pace since the introduction of the all-items, excluding gasoline special aggregate in 1999, according to the agency.

With the unemployment rate falling to a record low in April, strong employment figures tend to put upward pressure on prices. In April, average hourly wages for employees rose 3.3 per cent on a year-over-year basis, meaning that, on average, prices rose faster than wages, and Canadians experienced a decline in purchasing power, revealed Statistics Canadadddd monthly basis, the CPI ddedddsd 0.6 per cent in April after a 1.4 per cent gain in March. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.7 per cent.

“There’s no respite yet for Canadian consumers when it comes to inflationary pressures,” Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Economist, Andrew Grantham said in a mar

However, after that, signs of a slowing in the domestic economy and home-grown inflationary pressures should slow down the pace of rate hikes, Grantham said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor