Inflation & Prices
Inflation Slows to 5.2% in Canada, Backing Case for Rate Pause
- Price pressures keep slowing after aggressive hiking cycle
- Swaps traders now expect Macklem will cut later this year
Gasoline prices down 4.7% in Canada last month, the first yearly drop since the start of 2021.
Photographer: Leah Hennel/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Both inflation and underlying price pressures eased broadly in line with forecasts, bolstering the Bank of Canada’s case for holding interest rates steady despite healthy job gains.
The consumer price index rose 5.2% in February from a year ago, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday in Ottawa. That’s slower than the 5.4% gain expected in a Bloomberg survey of economists and down from 5.9% in January, making it the largest deceleration in headline inflation since April 2020.