Canada’s inflation rate rose to 1.5% in October, up slightly from the month before.
Statistics Canada says a 2.5% increase in gas prices drove total inflation up.
The cost of shelter rose 1.9% – the largest increase since January last year because of higher costs to maintain the value of the home and a rise in property taxes.
But the big story was food prices which declined 0.7%, the first drop since January 2000.
(Fernando Morales / The Globe and Mail)
Then there was the cost of food at grocery stores that fell 2.1% – the largest decline since July 1992 – as prices for fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy products all fell.
Economists say that’s due to several factors, including a stabilizing dollar that makes food imports cheaper, increased competition between retailers and several years of strong crops in the U.S.