Canada’s inflation rate inched upwards to 2.9% on a year-over-year basis in March, driven by higher gasoline prices across the country.
Statistics Canada reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased in March from an annualized rate of 2.8% in February.
Higher gasoline prices at the pumps contributed the most to the inflation increase. Excluding gasoline, the all-items CPI fell to 2.8% in March from 2.9% in February.
Shelter prices also contributed to the rise in March inflation, with mortgage interest and rent contributing the most to the year-over-year gain in the all-items CPI, said StatsCan.
Prices for services (up 4.5%) continued to rise in March, along with prices for goods (up 1.1%), and prices for clothing and footwear (up 1.4%).
Curiously, there was no mention of food inflation in the latest CPI report.
On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.6% in March. And on a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI rose 0.3% in March.
Regionally, prices rose at the fastest rate in Atlantic Canada in March due largely to a rise in the cost of furnace oil that is used to heat homes.
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