Canada inflation eases to 0.1% in August despite declining gas and air ticket prices

Gas prices fell 11.1 percent in August. Air travel prices fell 16 percent.

“Demand for air travel has fallen during the epidemic and airlines continue to offer travel discounts to encourage a return to travel,” the data agency said.

Gas and air tickets were cheap but not everything was done. There was a 7.2 percent increase in the price of personal care products, which included items such as haircuts.

“This increase is mainly due to higher prices for haircuts and haircuts, as increased costs related to safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have reached consumers,” Stats‌con said.

Lisa Kramer, a professor of finance at the University of Toronto, said the category should not be surprised to see price increases as the industry is dealing directly with the unprecedented impact of Kovid-19.

Physical distance requirements Many salons had to close their doors for several weeks during the months of March and April, and even now they have limited capacity to reopen for the most part, reducing customer loads and adding costs to things like cleaning supplies.

“Their revenues have dwindled, but as their costs have risen so many creative solutions have had to be considered in an effort to stay fluid,” Kramer told CBC News in an interview. “To partially replace it, many have implemented temporary surcharges to keep them afloat.”

True, many have added a Called COVID surcharge To pay for the extra costs of personal protective equipment and more serious and frequent cleaning, but businesses say those fees do not allow them to meet that.

Lisa Friesen, owner of Vivid Hair Design and Spa in Calgary, added a five percent surcharge to customers’ bills, but said it was nowhere near as high costs and lost revenue that could not serve most clients. During the day.

“Our rents have not come down and our taxes have not come down but we can see fewer clients than we have ever seen before,” she said in an interview.

“I try to be in a positive place [that] Things will come back … but it’s devastating, it really is. “

Other prices also rose

Haircuts alone are not expensive. Jewelry prices rose 6.8 percent, mostly due to record gold prices.

The inflation rate in the five provinces varies widely across the country as positive, but negative in the other five countries.

This rate is much lower than the range that Bank of Canada aims to determine where its benchmark interest rate is. When inflation is low, the bank lowers its rate to encourage loans to invest. When the rate is high, the bank raises its rate to cool things down.

Central Bank of Canada COVID-19 reduced its rate in response to the epidemic Earlier this year, and Toronto-Dominion Bank economist James Marpel said Wednesday the numbers would do nothing to convince the bank Change course anytime.

“Since inflation is so low on the path, there is no reason for the Bank of Canada to change its exchange of information that interest rates will remain low for a long time to contribute to a strong economic recovery,” he said.