The consumer price index increased 2.6 per cent from February 2024, compared with 1.9 per cent in January, as the end of former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s temporary break on the federal sales tax put upward pressure on the price of restaurant meals and alcohol. (The Logic)

Talking point: The headline number isn’t as bad as it looks. Restaurant meals and alcohol were still cheaper than a year earlier, but were distorted by the reapplication of the GST and HST mid-month, which slowed the year-over-year decline. Statistics Canada’s measure of shelter costs fell, suggesting an important source of inflation continues to cool. Yet six of the index’s eight major components posted increases, and the two measures of “core” inflation that the Bank of Canada uses to filter volatility each jumped to 2.9 per cent, reinforcing governor Tiff Macklem’s message that price pressures will restrain his ability to offset the harm from economic war with U.S. President Donald Trump.