The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that there were signs inflation was easing in October, but a more muddled picture under the hood has most economists expecting the Bank of Canada will shift to the sidelines at its final interest-rate decision of the year. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that cheaper prices at the gas pumps and grocery store helped bring inflation down to 2.2 per cent in October, Statistics Canada said Monday. That was a tick higher than economists' expectations but down from 2.4 per cent in September. Higher gasoline costs were blamed for the half-point spike in the September inflation reading, and Statistics Canada said easing pump prices last month helped rein inflation back in. Prices at the grocery store also fell 0.6 per cent in October, the largest month-to-month decline since September, 2020. BMO economist Doug Porter noted that recent relief is likely due to the easing of price pressures from tariffs on perishable U.S. goods, such as Florida orange juice. In September, Ottawa removed most of Canada's retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. Prices for food purchased from the grocery store rose 3.4 per cent on an annual basis, cooling from 4 per cent in September.