The Canadian Department of Statistics on Wednesday reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded a reading above 5% for the first time since September 1991 with a 5.1% year -on -year increase in January and up from a 4.8% increase in December 2021.
The January CPI index was higher than the 5% y/y estimate forecast by Scotiabank. Regardless of petrol prices, the CPI rose by 4.3% per annum in January, the fastest rate since the introduction of the index in 1999. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic continued to weigh on the supply chain and drive up consumer prices.
In general, Canadians continue to feel the effects of rising prices of goods and services, particularly for housing, food and gasoline, StatsCan said.
Inflation is often compared to changes in average wages. In January, the CPI rose 5.1% a year while wage data from the Labor Force Survey (LFS) found wages rose 2.4% over the same period, meaning that, on average, prices rose faster than Canadian wages.
The Canadian currency continued to strengthen against the US dollar with USD/CAD trading down 0.20% at 1.2669.
