OTTAWA – The big drop in prices at the pump helped slow Canada’s annual inflation rate last month to 2.0 per cent.
Statistics Canada found prices rose in every major category of its survey compared to a year earlier except for transportation — in large part due to the sharp fall in gasoline prices.
The agency’s November reading was lower than economists’ expectations of 2.2 per cent inflation in November and followed a 2.4 per cent 12-month increase in October.
The report says gasoline prices were 5.9 per cent lower than a year earlier, while major increases were seen in products such as cigarettes, meat and natural gas.
Consumer prices for November increased at a slower pace in every province compared to the previous year except for British Columbia, where inflation sped up slightly to 1.2 per cent from 1.1 per cent.
The core inflation rate, which excludes some volatile items such as gasoline, also slowed in November to 2.1 per cent after a 2.3 per cent increase in October.
A consensus of economists had predicted core inflation would to rise 2.4 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.
Source:: Metro News
