Canada’s inflation rate is now at 8.1% — its highest point since 1983
Source：globalnews.ca
From：Taiwan Trade Center, Toronto
Update Time：2022/08/17
The costs of gas, food, and travel are making the average Canadian’s life more expensive.
Canada's inflation rate rose at its fastest pace in almost 40 years in the year up to June, as the price of just about everything continues to go up fast.
Statistics Canada reported that an uptick in the price of gasoline was a major factor causing the overall inflation rate to hit 8.1 percent. Gasoline prices were up 54.6 percent year-over-year and 6.2 percent month-to-month in June, contributing the most to the headline inflation jump, the agency said.
Food prices were also a major factor in the upside, with grocery bills increasing by 9.7 percent over the past year. Within the food category, the cost of edible fats and oils skyrocketed 30 percent, the fastest increase on record.
“There’s no single story behind why food prices have gone up. We’re seeing the sticker shock in every aisle of the grocery store, and there’s a different story in every aisle, too,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Financial Group.
Porter noted that rising gas prices plays a role in rising food prices because the cost to ship food increases when energy prices rise.
On top of higher prices for food and gasoline, Statistic Canada documented a surge in demand and prices for travel-related services.
"The return of sporting events, festivals, and other large in-person gatherings has resulted in higher demand for accommodation, particularly in major urban centers," Statistics Canada said.
Prices for accommodation rose by about 50 percent across the country compared with a year ago, and the cost of air transportation rose by 6.4 percent in the month and is up by 25 percent compared to a year ago.
Although the 8.1 percent figure is the fastest annual increase since 1983, economists had been expecting the rate to come in even higher, with a consensus of those polled by Bloomberg forecasting a rate of 8.4 percent.
Despite yet another multi-decade high in inflation, Statistic Canada's data will likely come as a small relief to the Bank of Canada, which has been undertaking an aggressive campaign of raising interest rates for 20 years to rein in the runaway cost of living.
Canada is not the only country dealing with inflation at its highest level in decades. In the U.S., the inflation rate tops eight percent right now, and new data out of the U.K. shows the cost of living rising at a nine percent annual clip.
Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/9002820/inflation-canada-june-2022/