INFLATION RATE SWELLS TO 2.2%

Canada's annual inflation rate doubled to 2.2 per cent in March, in part due to a statistical difference caused by the sharp deceleration last year during the pandemic and because of rising energy prices, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the annual rate to rise to 2.3 per cent in March, up from 1.1 per cent in February. Energy prices gained 19.1 per cent year on year, while inflation excluding gasoline and food rose 0.9 per cent versus a year ago. “The headline spike, as expected, is largely an energy story, but there are some signs that underlying pressures are starting to show up,” said Nathan Janzen, senior economist at the Royal Bank of Canada. “The Bank of Canada's core measures also moved higher on the month, with two of them very slightly above the Bank of Canada's midpoint two-per-cent inflation target.”