23.11.201007:28:00UTC+00Canadian Inflation Up 2.4% In October

Rising prices at the pump helped fuel Canadian inflation last month, as overall consumer prices rose slightly more than economists expected in October, official data revealed Tuesday.

Statistics Canada said consumer prices rose 2.4% in the 12 months to October, with nearly half of the 0.5 percentage point increase caused by higher gasoline prices.

Economists were looking for consumer prices to rise 2.2% on an annual basis, following an unrevised 1.9% increase in September.

The annualized increase was the largest since October 2008, the agency noted.

Prices at the pump were 8.8% higher than a year earlier, following a 3.1% increase the previous month.

Excluding gasoline, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.1% in October after increasing 1.8% in September.

Energy prices jumped 9.1% from October 2009, as electricity and natural gas prices both headed higher. Automobile prices rose 4.9%, while food prices increased 2.2%.

Clothing and footwear prices fell 0.1% following a 2.2% decline in September.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.7% in October, the largest increase since January 2006.

The Bank of Canada's core index, which the bank uses to measure inflation relative to its 2% target rate, advanced 1.8% in the 12 months to October, following a 1.5% rise in September.

The seasonally adjusted monthly core index rose 0.3% from September to October following a 0.1% increase the previous month.

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