Canada’s inflation rate slowed to 2.9% in January

Canada’s annual inflation rate slowed to 2.9 per cent in January, mostly due to a deceleration in the price of gas, according to data from Statistics Canada.

Economists were expecting the rate to come in at 3.3 per cent. 

Gas prices fell four per cent year over year in January after gasoline drove headline inflation up in December, due to what economists call a base-year effect (the impact of comparing prices in a given month to the same month a year earlier).

The core inflation rate, which strips away gasoline and other volatile sectors, was 3.2 per cent.

While groceries are still getting more expensive, prices grew at a slower rate in January, Statscan said.

Meat, dairy products, fresh fruit and baked goods were among the basket items that helped bring the rate down to 3.4 per cent.

More to come.