Canadian Consumer Price Inflation - November 21, 2014

BCREA ECONOMICS NOW

Canadian consumer prices rose 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to October, an acceleration of 0.4 points from

September. The Bank of Canada's core measure of inflation, which excludes the most volatile prices such as energy and food products, was also higher, rising 0.2 points to  2.3 per cent. Consumer prices in BC rose actually fell on a month-over-month basis, but were up a modest 1.1 per cent year-over-year.

The relatively sharp uptick in both headline CPI and core inflation in October could spark some concern that the Bank of Canada will act sooner than later on interest rates to tame consumer prices. While strong economic growth and a lower dollar are exerting pressure on consumer prices, inflation remains within the Bank's 2 to 3 per cent control range and we therefore expect the Bank to remain on hold until at least mid-2015,