Canada's inflation slows

Plummeting gasoline prices continued to keep inflation in check for a second month in a row, the government statistical agency said Friday. Canadians paid 1.5 percent more for goods and services in December, following a 2.0 percent increase in Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) the previous month. Analysts had expected a 1.7 percent increase in the CPI.
The slow rise in inflation was mostly attributable to gasoline prices, which fell 16.6 percent in the 12 months to December, after falling 5.9 percent in November, the agency said. Prices of natural gas, electricity, fresh vegetables, meat, restaurant meals and passenger vehicles were up in the month, while fuel oil costs fell.