Inflation rises to 2.0 per cent in April
Posted May 23, 2014 8:43 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Statistics Canada says consumer prices rose half a percentage point to two per cent last month from a year ago, the highest the annual inflation rate has reached in two years.
On a month to month basis, consumers paid 0.3 per cent more than they did in February.
The two-per-cent rate puts the consumer price index exactly at the Bank of Canada’s desired target, although core inflation — which excludes volatile items such as energy and reflects underlying price pressures — remains relatively tame at 1.4 per cent.
Energy was the main contributor to the increase in the annual rate, with gasoline costing 6.6 per cent more than a year ago, natural gas 26.6 per cent more and electricity coming in 4.6 per cent higher.
For most other consumer goods price variations were modest, suggesting that inflation remains well in check.
Regionally, British Columbia registered the biggest increase in the annual rate, rising from 0.1 per cent in March to 1.5 per cent in April. Inflation in Alberta went the other way, falling from 3.9 per cent in March to 2.7 per cent in April.
