Inflation rose to 3.4% in December, says StatsCan

Canada’s annual inflation rate jumped to 3.4 per cent in December, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday.

That’s after both October and November saw inflation hold steady at 3.1 per cent compared to last year.

StatsCan said that the price of gasoline, air travel, passenger vehicles and rent drove the figure higher in December.

Food prices at stores also went up 4.7 per cent compared to last year, the same rate of increase as in November.

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The data comes a day after a Bank of Canada survey showed Canadians are increasingly cutting back on spending, while mortgage-holders remain confident they can keep up with higher payments when their loans renew.

According to the central bank’s fourth-quarter consumer expectations and business outlook surveys, roughly two-thirds of Canadians said they were reducing spending or planning to do so because of their expectations for interest rates and inflation.

More to come.