The consumer price index increased two per cent in October from a year earlier, up from 1.6 per cent in September, Statistics Canada reported. A less pronounced decline in fuel prices explained most of the re-acceleration to the midpoint of the central bank’s target range. Excluding gasoline, the all-items price index rose 2.2 per cent on the year. (The Logic)

Talking point: All things equal, these numbers argue for the Bank of Canada to return to incremental quarter-point cuts. The two measures of “core” inflation that the central bank uses to filter the distortionary effects of volatile prices both jumped, implying a certain amount of upward pressure on overall inflation. Grocery prices increased 2.7 per cent, the third consecutive monthly gain after a period of cooling. At the same time, increases in the cost of shelter slowed to 4.8 per cent from five per cent in September, and the cost of services decelerated to 3.6 per cent, the smallest year-over-year increase since January 2022. Bottom line: inflation is contained, if not quite beaten. Data on hiring and economic growth will determine the pace of interest-rate cuts going forward.