China News Service, Toronto, September 20 (Reporter Yu Ruidong) Canada's consumer price index (CPI) in August this year increased by 7% year-on-year, lower than the 7.6% increase in the previous month, and the inflation rate slowed down for the second consecutive month. .

However, retail food prices rose to a 41-year record.

　　Statistics Canada released the latest inflation data on September 20 and pointed out that changes in gasoline prices are the main reason for the slowdown in CPI growth, which is mainly due to the increase in global production in oil-producing countries.

Gasoline prices rose 22.1% year-on-year in August, down from 35.6% in July.

Gasoline prices fell 9.6% month-on-month, the biggest drop since April 2020.

　　Excluding gasoline prices, the CPI rose 6.3% year-on-year in August, also slightly lower than July's 6.6% increase.

　　On a month-on-month basis, the CPI fell by 0.3% in August.

The seasonally adjusted CPI edged up 0.1% month-on-month, the smallest gain since late 2020.

　　Overall, price increases for both goods and services have slowed.

Among them, in terms of commodity prices, transportation and housing prices rose by 10.3% and 6.6% year-on-year respectively, which were the main driving forces for the decline in the overall CPI increase.

　　But retail food prices rose 10.8 percent, the biggest gain since August 1981.

All kinds of food prices generally maintained an upward trend.

The Canadian Bureau of Statistics believes that food supplies continue to be affected by multiple factors such as extreme weather, higher input costs, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and supply chain disruptions.

　　Services related to travel and housing services increased by 5.5% and contributed the most to the overall slowdown in service prices.

　　Average hourly earnings for Canadians rose 5.4 per cent year-on-year in August, meaning prices are still rising faster than wages and people's purchasing power is still falling.

However, the gap between price and wage growth has narrowed slightly.

　　The Bank of Canada announced on September 7 that it will raise interest rates for the fifth time in a row since March this year in order to curb high inflation not seen in nearly 40 years and seek a soft landing for the economy, raising the benchmark interest rate to 3.25%, reaching the financial level of 2008. Interest rates are at their highest level since the crisis, while quantitative tightening continues.

The Bank of Canada said it still has room to raise its policy rate and will continue to take necessary steps to achieve its 2% inflation target.

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