Canadian May consumer price index
- Prior was +3.4% y/y (was highest since 2011)
- Month over month +0.5% versus +0.4% estimate
- Prior m/m reading was +0.5%
- Gasoline +43.4% y/y
- Homeowners' replacement cost index rose 11.3%, the largest yearly increase since 1987
- Full report
Core measures (y/y):
- Common 1.8% versus 1.8% exp
- Median 2.4% versus 2.3% exp
- Trim 2.7% versus 2.3% estimate
The increase in year-over-year price growth in May was led by rising prices for shelter (+4.2%) and durable goods (+4.4%), led by passenger vehicles (+5.0%). Furniture prices rose 9.8%, the highest since 1982.
This sounds like the kind of thing the Bank of Canada will be watching very closely:
"Unlike March and April 2021, when most of the year-over-year gains in the CPI were characterized by the large upward base-year effects caused by price declines falling out of the 12-month movement, base-year effects affected the 12-month price movement for only a few key goods and services in May 2021."
There are certainly still some pandemic-related price increases though and we could also be seeing some of the lagged effects of those skews. Traveler accommodation prices rose 6.7% m/m.