OTTAWA — Canada’s inflation rate has fallen back to the country’s target range for the first time in more than two years, but economists say the fight against high inflation is far from over. Annual inflation tumbled to 2.
OTTAWA — Canada’s inflation rate has fallen back to the country’s target range for the first time in more than two years, but economists say the fight against high inflation is far from over. Annual inflation tumbled to 2.8 per cent in June, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. The deceleration was broad-based, though lower gasoline prices compared with last year led the slowdown. But Canadians continue to pay substantially higher prices for groceries, as prices rose 9.1 per cent year-over-year, slightly faster than in May. The annual inflation rate was 3.4 per cent in May. The last time it fell below three per cent was March 2021. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland called the return of inflation to the target range a “milestone moment.” “That is a significant moment. It should provide a lot of relief to Canadians,” Freeland told reporters in a virtual news conference on Tuesday. However, it’s not all good news on the inflation front. Core measures of inflation — which strip out volatility — have not eased as much. The Bank of Canada pays close attention to its preferred core measures of inflation to gauge underlying price pressures. These measures are hovering between 3.5 and 4.0 per cent.…