Inflation slowed somewhat last month, according to figures released Friday morning by Statistics Canada.
The agency reports Canada's inflation rate slowed to 1.1% in August from a year earlier as food prices increased by much less than their recent pace.
Statistics Canada reported Friday that the consumer price index increase fell from 1.3% in July. Economists had been expecting the rate to inch higher, to about 1.4%.
Seven of eight sectors that the data agency tracks were higher. The lone exception was reported in clothing and footwear, which was 0.4% cheaper this August than it was during the same month last year.
Food prices increased 1.1% during last month, after rising at an annual pace of 1.6% in July.
Grocery prices are getting cheaper in part because of the loonie, which seems to have found a stable range just below 80 cents U.S. after a volatile start to the year.
Gasoline prices dropped, but more slowly than they have in recent months. Year over year, pump prices declined by 11.5% in August. In July, the decline was 14% compared to the prior-year month.
The cost of living increased everywhere across the country, from a low of 0.1% in Quebec to as high as 3% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
