Canada’s inflation rate quickened at the fastest pace in two-and-a-half years in March as costs for gasoline and food heated up, suggesting the country is not immune to soaring commodity prices that are pressuring much of the world.
The country’s consumer price index accelerated to 3.3% after a 2.2% annual increase in February, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. The reading was the highest since September 2008, and topped economists' expectations.
The report comes days after the Bank of Canada boosted its forecast for inflation this year amid higher energy prices.
So far, inflation has been relatively tame in Canada even as it soared in other parts of the world. Today's report suggests Canada too is now feeling price pressures as prices for commodities such as oil and food soar.
The country's gasoline prices jumped 18.9% in March from a year earlier, faster than the 15.7% pace a month earlier. Prices for fuel oil jumped 31.3% and electricity prices climbed 4.3%.
Food costs grew. Prices for food bought from stores jumped 3.7% -- the largest annual increase since August 2009. Other steep increases came in travel services, clothing, car insurance and new cars.
The core rate of inflation, which excludes volatile items such as fruit and gasoline, picked up to 1.7% from 0.9% a month earlier.
Economists had been anticipating inflation would quicken. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had pegged the total rate of inflation at 2.8% in March, and forecast a core rate of 1.2%.
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