Led by a drop in gas prices, Canada’s annual inflation rate eased to 7.6% in July, according to data released by Statistics Canada.
That follows a 40-year-high of 8.1% in June, which some observers believe may mark the peak in inflation. That would be welcome news for the Bank of Canada, but still not enough to keep it from hiking interest rates further when its Governing Council meets on September 7.
That’s particularly true given that the Bank’s preferred measure of core inflation continued to rise in July, reaching an annual rate of 5.3%, its highest level in over 32 years.