Declining energy prices led to a 0.9 percent decrease in Canada's Consumer Price Index for September, Statistics Canada reported from Ottawa Friday.
On an annual basis, energy prices fell 18.7 percent. Excluding that sector, the CPI showed a 1.3 percent gain in the year-over-year comparison, the agency said.
"The primary upward pressure on the CPI came from food prices, which increased 2.8 percent in the past 12 months," the report said, "However, this was the slowest rate of growth since June 2008."
Of the eight major sectors sampled for the report, three recorded price decreases in the 12-month period. They were transportation, in which energy prices factor, shelter and clothing/footwear, the agency said.
The report said on an annual basis, prices for meat increased 2.6 percent while prices for fish rose 8.8 percent.
