Canada’s annual inflation rate remained at 3.1% last month, in line with October’s rate, according to data released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.
Many economists had predicted the rate would dip below the 3% threshold, bringing it closer to the Bank of Canada’s target of 2% inflation.
While prices at the grocery have continued to rise for the fifth consecutive month, they did so at a slower pace in November, with the exception of meat, sugar and preserved vegetables, according to CBC News.
The slowing of increased prices of energy and cell services also helped to bring the rate down, however higher prices for travel tours kept it from decreasing below the 3% threshold.
The rate would have been around 3.5% in November, if the consumer price index were not factoring in the cost of food and energy.
For the fourth consecutive month, the Bank of Canada has kept its key interest rate at 5%, a year and a half since the central bank first began its aggressive tightening of monetary policy to quell the economic challenges.
However, it won’t be decreasing the interest rate below 5% for the time being, assured the Bank of Canada’s governor, Tiff Macklem, in an announcement earlier this month.
