The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that Canada's annual rate of inflation may have touched a four-month high in October, but do not expect policymakers to hit the panic button.
The Post's Gordon Isfeld writes that things could change again in the coming months. After all, overall price increases slowed in the previous month and could just as easily weaken again.
The consumer price index rose by an annual rate of 2.4 per cent in October, matching the June level, but up from the 2-per-cent year-over-year reading in September. The gains were led by higher shelter and food costs.
The core inflation reading advanced by 2.3 per cent last month from 2.1 per cent in September. The October increase was the biggest year-over-year rise since February, 2012, when core prices also reached 2.3 per cent.
The Bank of Canada uses the core index to gauge underlying inflation trends and track longer-term price fluctuations. BMO economist Robert Kavcic says: "It was quite a bit stronger than what we we're expecting -- than probably anybody was expecting. ... If anything, it suggests that there's a little bit more upward momentum in inflation in Canada than the Bank of Canada had been expecting, as well."
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