Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated to 3% in July from 2.5% in June as energy prices climbed, while one of the Bank of Canada's preferred measures of core inflation also ticked higher.
Figures released Friday by Statistics Canada showed the consumer price index was much stronger than the 2.5% forecast by analysts. The Bank of Canada, which raised interest rates in July for the fourth time in a year, has an inflation target of 2%
Energy prices rose 14.2% from July 2017, higher than the year-on-year 12.4% rise in June, helped by a 25.4%jump in gasoline prices. All eight major components rose on a year-over-year basis in July.
Among the agency's core inflation measures, CPI trim, which excludes upside and downside outliers, rose to 2.1% from 2% in June.
The CPI median was 2% while the CPI common was 1.9%
