Inflation

Multi-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez arrived in Venice on Wednesday ahead of their star-studded weekend wedding, an event that has galvanized a wide assortment of activist groups protesting it.

While inflation remained flat at 1.7 per cent for the month of May, Canadians still spent more last month at the grocery store for their rent and utilities.

The annual pace of inflation held steady at 1.7 per cent in May as cooling shelter costs helped tame price pressures, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

The Bank of Canada will get a fresh look at national inflation figures this week — a picture that’s been particularly murky as of late amid tax changes and trade wars.

Statistics Canada says retail sales rose 0.3 per cent to $70.1 billion in April, helped by gains in sales at new and used car dealers.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says up to 4.8 million new homes will need to be built over the next decade to restore affordability levels seen in 2019.

Condominium sales in Canada’s two major markets continue to fall, leading to increasing supply and the cancellation of dozens of condo projects, despite a nationwide push to dramatically increase the construction of new homes.

Switzerland’s central bank said Thursday it has reduced its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, adding that inflationary pressures have eased.

A new report suggests Canadian renters continue to face affordability challenges even as asking rent prices have fallen this year, while those considering the leap to home ownership are taking a wait-and-see approach.

Members of the Bank of Canada governing council were concerned that underlying inflationary pressures led by trade disruption and uncertainty could persist for a long time, minutes of the meeting showed on Tuesday.

Walmart Canada says it has lowered prices for hundreds of items, but a retail analyst is warning consumers to do their homework.

Costco shoppers may get a bit of relief as they struggle with the high cost of groceries.

Consumer sentiment increased in June for the first time in six months, the latest sign that Americans’ views of the economy have improved as inflation has stayed tame and the Trump administration has reached a truce in its trade fight with China.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady next week, with investors focused on new central bank projections that will show how much weight policymakers are putting on recent soft data and how much risk they attach to unresolved trade and budget issues.

Canada is bringing the world to Alberta for the G7 leaders summit in Kananaskis.