(Adds details from report)
OTTAWA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Canada's annual inflation rate
accelerated in January to its highest since November 2014,
lifted by food prices and the first increase in the cost of
gasoline in over a year, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Annual inflation was 2 percent, surpassing economists'
expectations for 1.7 percent, and bringing the rate up to the
Bank of Canada's 2 percent target.
After being suppressed by a drop in energy prices, gasoline
prices were up 2.1 percent, the first annual increase since
October 2014. Nonetheless, prices still fell 6 percent on a
monthly basis.
Food costs rose 4 percent as consumers paid 18.2 percent
more for fresh vegetables. The rise in food prices suggests
consumers were seeing the impact of a weaker Canadian dollar,
which has been hit hard by falling oil prices.
Overall, prices were higher in seven of the eight major
components of the consumer price index. The clothing and
footwear segment was the only component to decline, and was down
an annual 0.3 percent.
The annual core inflation rate, which strips out the prices
of some volatile items and is watched by the Bank of Canada, was
also 2.0 percent, slightly higher than expected and up from 1.9
percent in the previous month.
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Canada inflation, central bank rate http://link.reuters.com/cut67s
Canada economic dashboard http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/15/sc-canada/index.html
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