Manitoba, Canada's annual inflation held steady at 1.5 per cent last month as higher costs for things such as property taxes were offset by lower prices for items such as vegetables, new Statistics Canada data shows.
In its latest monthly Consumer Price Index report released on Friday, the federal agency said property taxes, as well as the cost of personal care supplies and equipment, both increased by 4.1 per cent from September to October in Manitoba.
However, those increases were largely offset by lower costs for things like fresh vegetables (-6.0 per cent), fresh or frozen beef (down 9.9 per cent) and fresh or frozen chicken (-4.2 per cent).
Canada's consumer price index was up 1.4 per cent in October compared with a year ago, following a 1.6 per cent increase in September.
The Bank of Canada, which uses a two per cent inflation target in setting monetary policy, raised its key interest rate target twice this year following strong economic growth to start 2017.
However, economists expect growth for the second half of the year to come in at a slower pace and the central bank has suggested that while further rate hikes are likely, they will be cautious and pay close attention to the incoming economic data.
Of the Bank of Canada’s three preferred measures of core inflation, which seek to look through the noise of more-volatile items, CPI-common increased to 1.6 per cent compared with 1.5 per cent in September, while CP-median slipped to 1.7 per cent from 1.8 per cent. CPI-trim held steady at 1.5 per cent.
Source: winnipegfreepress.com
