Prices in Canada fell 0.1% in September and brought down the interannual inflation rate by 3.8%, two-tenths lower than the previous month, according to data released this Tuesday by Statistics Canada (EC ).

The government agency said the fall in inflation in September came about thanks to a general slowdown in prices in almost all categories compared to those a year ago. One of the exceptions was gasoline, which in September 2023 was 7.5% more expensive than in September 2022.

Despite this, gasoline prices were 1.3% lower than in August of this year.

Without gasoline, inflation in September would have been 3.7%, four tenths lower than in August.

The EC also noted that although food prices were 5.8% higher than a year ago, the pace of growth also slowed in September.

The drop in the inflation rate adds to other data that indicates a slowdown in the Canadian economy, which could allow the Bank of Canada to suspend its aggressive policy of raising interest rates.

The Canadian central bank is expected to announce its next rate decision on October 25.

In September, even though the Canadian economy created 64,000 net jobs, the unemployment rate remained at 5.5%, the third consecutive month in which unemployment remained unchanged.

EC also found that the Canadian economy stagnated in July with zero growth, following a 0.2% contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) in June.

At the beginning of September, in its latest announcement on interest rates, the Bank of Canada certified that the economy of the North American country had entered “a period of low economic growth” and decided to maintain interest rates unchanged at 5%.

Since the start of 2022, Canada’s monetary authority has raised interest rates 10 times to contain soaring inflation that reached 8.1% in June last year.