Canada’s Inflation Slows to 3.8 Percent in September, Likely Heading Off Rate Hike

A man shops for food at a store in Toronto in a file photo. Federal research dated December 2024 indicates that a third of Canadians had to borrow money or run up credit card debt in order to buy food or pay other monthly expenses in the past 12 months. Reuters/Carlos Osorio

OTTAWA—Canada’s annual inflation rate unexpectedly slowed to 3.8 percent in September and underlying core measures also eased, data showed on Tuesday, prompting markets and analysts to trim bets for another interest rate hike next week.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast inflation to hold steady at the 4.0 percent rate recorded in August. Month-over-month, the consumer price index was down 0.1 percent, Statistics Canada said, lower than a forecast for a 0.1 percent gain.