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Canadian CPI: Catching a (Tax) Break
Canadian consumer prices fell 0.4% m/m in December, held down by massive seasonal factors as well as the mid-month GST/HST holiday. This was just enough to shave the headline inflation rate a tick to 1.8%, in line with our call. Notably, looking beyond the flashy headline drop in prices, the CPI actually rose 0.2% m/m in seasonally adjusted terms, and the core results were not great. True, the year-on-year pace in the Bank's two main measures both dipped—median down two ticks to 2.4% and trim down one to 2.5% y/y. But those were wind-aided by easy comparisons to a year ago, and the three-month trend in both has ... (full story)