Statistics Canada announced this week that national inflation increased in May to 2.4%, which could have an impact on spending there. It’s the largest increase since October 2018.

All categories analyzed in the consumer price index showed surges, most notably a huge jump in the price of fresh vegetables, which rose 16.7%, and a 2.9% rise in the cost of meat. Overall food prices rose 3.5%, and the cost of transportation jumped 3.1%, including 8.9% for air travel, though drivers paid 3.7% less for gasoline than in May of last year.

Year-over-year prices rose in all eight categories of the index, with notable increases in food prices. https://t.co/ioJ1IWe7ZL

— CBC News (@CBCNews) June 19, 2019

The year-over-year consumer price index increased 2.7%. April 2019 saw a 2% increase from the previous month; analysts had predicted a 2.1% rise for May.

After the numbers were announced this week, the Canadian dollar increased by half a cent before dropping slightly. It now stands at about 75 cents USD.

Statistics Canada also calculated a “core” inflation rate of 2.1%, the highest since 2012. It’s now likely that the Bank of Canada will not raise its benchmark interest rate at its upcoming policy meeting, slated for next month.

“The acceleration in the core readings support the notion that the Bank of Canada is likely to remain on the sidelines,” Toronto-Dominion Bank economist James Marple told the CBC. “While some of the factors pushing up price growth are likely to prove fleeting, we can’t discount the relatively broad-based nature of price growth in May. Inflation is back in Canada, at least for now.”

A report from Statistics Canada earlier this month showed that the economy added 27,700 jobs in May and unemployment dropped to 5.4%, the lowest since 1976. However, in May, Nanos Research in Canada reported that only about 13% of Canadians believed the economy would improve over the next six months as consumers there expressed ongoing concern about growth forecasts and personal financial situations

There’s also been much uncertainty on the trade front, particularly with the U.S., as President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau wrangled over tariffs earlier this year. The future of the USMCA also remains uncertain, though Mexico’s Senate was the first of the three North American countries to ratify it this week. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is now calling on Canada and the U.S. to follow suit, but U.S. Democrats have said they will not be rushed into signing the pact before taking a hard look at its provisions on enforcement, labor, the environment and drug pricing.