Consumer Price Index slows in February
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.8% on a year-over-year basis in February, following a 2.3% increase in January. The slowdown in the all-items CPI on a year-over-year basis in February was largely driven by a monthly increase in prices in February 2025, when the GST/HST break ended partway through the month. On a year-over-year basis, there was downward pressure in February 2026 from a range of indexes including gasoline (-14.2%), natural gas (-17.1%), homeowners' replacement cost (-2.1%), other owned accommodation expenses (-2.6%) and travel tours (-3.1%).
Job vacancies in sales and service occupations decrease
Job vacancies were little changed in the fourth quarter of 2025 at 495,100, following three straight quarters of decline beginning with the first quarter of 2025. Vacant positions in sales and service occupations fell by 4,100 (-2.8%) in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 144,500, the lowest level of vacancies in the occupational group since the second quarter of 2016 (141,000).
Functional health is declining, especially among young adults
The functional health of Canadian adults has declined over the past decade, largely due to deteriorating emotional health and the increasing prevalence of pain. The percentage of Canadian adults with very good to perfect functional health declined from 68.6% in 2015 to 56.4% in 2024. From 2015 to 2024, functional health remained approximately the same for Canadians age 75 and older but decreased for all younger age groups.
Almost one in five Canadian adults have obesity with at least one indicator of obesity-related impairment
New analysis, based on data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey from 2016 to 2019, provides the first population-level estimates of obesity that incorporate indicators of organ and tissue dysfunction, and limitations in daily activities. A tiered classification system was used to define clinical obesity, applying progressively stricter criteria across three tiers. At Tier 1, clinical obesity required excess adiposity plus an indicator of impairment in at least one domain. Over the 2016-to-2019 period, Tier 1 clinical obesity affected 19% of adults and 8% had Tier 1 preclinical obesity.
Source: Health Reports, March 2026
Manufacturing employment slides in 2025
Payroll employment in the Canadian manufacturing sector stood at just over 1.5 million people in December 2025, down 40,600 from December 2024 (seasonally adjusted). Manufacturing output fell by 2.6% in 2025, making it the largest contributor to the decline in Canada’s real gross domestic product and marking the sector’s third consecutive annual drop.
Source: Manufacturing labour in 2025: Losses down the line amid trade headwinds
Contact information
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