inflation in Canada hit 8.1 per cent in June as prices on gasoline surged, Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday.Gasoline prices were up 54.6 per cent year-over-year and 6.2 per cent month-to-month in June, contributing the most to the headline inflation jump, the agency said.Also in the transportation basket, prices for passenger vehicles were up 8.2 per cent in June, the second biggest driver of inflation last month.
Statistics Canada added prices for used vehicles into its consumer price index (CPI) calculations in May.Food prices were meanwhile up 8.8 per cent year-over-year, the same jump as the month before.
Prices for services, which include dining out at restaurants, rent and traveller accommodations, were up 5.2 per cent. Inflation in Canada soared 40 years ago.
Is today’s price surge any different? In May, the rate of inflation reached a 39-year-high of 7.7 per cent. Though the latest reading topped the eight per cent market, it fell short of consensus estimates that had inflation hitting 8.4 per cent in June.“It’s really saying something when an 8.1 per cent inflation rate is greeted with a modicum of relief in financial markets because it wasn’t quite as awful as expected,” wrote BMO chief economist Doug Porter in a note.Shelter prices eased off the accelerator in June but were still up 7.1 per cent.