Canada's Inflation Hits 2.4%, Energy Prices Soar

0:00It's April 21st, I'm Cory with the story, and this is Canada News today, local news powered by AI. Canada's inflation rate climbed to 2.4% in March, up from 1.8% the month before. The big driver, energy costs, with gas prices spiking 21.2% in just one month, the largest jump on record. Food prices at stores rose 4.4% year over year, while energy overall went up 3.9%. Urpal gas, an inflation sits at 2.2%, beating analyst guesses of 2.6%. Economists are calling it a mixed bag. BMO's Douglas Porter noted it could have been worse thanks to steady drops in core inflation trends. Canadians aren't alone. Global fuel shortages from the Iran conflict are hitting wallets everywhere. Compared to other advanced economies, Canada's rate ranks 28 out of 42 per IMF data. Just below the US and UK, at 3.2%, Australia at 4%, but above low flyers like Switzerland

1:06at 0.5%. With the carbon tax no longer dragging numbers and gas prices still climbing, expect inflation to push past 3% next month. Porter sees April as a possible peak before things cool off.