Canadians found things a bit pricier last month.
Statistics Canada said the unadjusted all-items Canadian Consumer Price Index rose 1.2% in February, bringing the annual inflation rate to 1.2% from 0.5% in January. On a seasonally adjusted basis, consumer prices rose 0.7%. The Bank of Canada's core measure posted a larger-than-expected 0.8% gain in February on an unadjusted basis with the seasonally-adjusted index up a more moderate 0.4%. Relative to a year earlier, the Bank's core rate stood at 1.4%, higher than January's 1.0%.
In the month of February, prices for clothing, travel accommodation and vehicles posted gains. These increases were accompanied by a 8.4% jump in gasoline prices. Small declines in electricity, mortgage interest costs, air transportation costs and computer equipment and software merely dented the monthly rise in the overall index.
The nation's number crunchers added that, relative to a year earlier, gasoline prices stood 3.9% higher. Clothing and footwear prices, despite rising 4.0% in the month, stood 0.5% below the same period in 2012 as February's rebound followed three months of declines. Food prices, posted a gain of 1.0% in the month resulting in a rise in the year over year rate to 1.9% from 1.1%.
The core measure, which excludes the prices of the eight most volatile components of the CPI, also posted a larger than expected increase in February due to rising clothing, auto and travel services prices. Clothing and travel prices were expected to show large seasonal increases and were assumed in forecasts that the core rate would rise 1.2% in the month of February.
