Inflation in Canada: Latest numbers released [Video]

Canada’s annual inflation rate fell to 2.7 per cent in June, with Statistics Canada largely attributing the deceleration to slower year-over-year growth in gasoline prices.

The agency reported Tuesday that gasoline prices rose 0.4 per cent in June following a 5.6 per cent jump in May. Excluding gasoline, the consumer price index rose 2.8 per cent in June.

The annual inflation rate for May was 2.9 per cent.

StatCan said lower prices for durable goods also contributed to the overall slowdown in June, falling 1.8 per cent year-over-year in the month following a 0.8 per cent decline in May.

CIBC senior economist Katherine Judge said the June inflation data “gave the Bank of Canada what it needed in order to cut interest rates at next week’s meeting.”

She said that core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices that tend to be more volatile, ticked up 0.2 per cent on a seasonally …