Consumer inflation held steady at 3% last month compared to a year earlier as higher rent and travel costs offset a slowdown in rising prices for gas and groceries. Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation was unchanged from July. The agency says gasoline costs continued to increase in August but at a slower pace, as the conflict in the Middle East continued to weigh on prices. Excluding gasoline, consumer prices rose 2.4% last month compared to a year earlier, up from 2.2% in July. …“Headline inflation remained elevated in August, but core measures continued to show only limited evidence that high energy prices are spilling over into wider inflationary pressure,” said CIBC economist Andrew Grantham. …“With the economic outlook clouded by U.S. tariffs and related uncertainty we think that the Bank of Canada should, and will, keep interest rates on hold in October meeting”.