OTTAWA: Canada’s annual inflation rate rang in at 1.5 per cent last month as higher prices for cars, electricity and air travel offset lower fuel prices. The inflation reading from Statistics Canada’s latest consumer price index matched the 1.5 per cent year-over-year increase in May. The agency says prices for shelter and household items registered the biggest gains among the major categories of consumer prices.
It says the lower cost of fuel oil, natural gas and gasoline applied significant downward pressure on the rate. Inflation was 1.9 per cent if gas-pump prices were excluded. The annual core inflation rate was 2.1 per cent last month to match the May reading. Core inflation leaves out some volatile items such as gas prices and is watched closely by the Bank of Canada.
Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest inflation rate of any province in June at 2.4 per cent, an increase that followed its 1.5-per-cent rate the previous month and was mostly due to higher pump prices. Economists had expected a year-to-year increase of 1.4 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.nf
