Canada’s annual inflation rose to 4.7 percent in October 2021 from the previous month’s 4.4 percent, according to Statistics Canada on Wednesday.
It was the largest year-over-year rise since February 2003 because of snarls in supply chains, bumps in prices at the pump and comparisons to lows seen one year earlier.
All eight components that the data agency tracks were higher, but the increase was led by higher transportation costs, which went up by more than 10 percent in the past year.
The increase in consumer prices for transportation was primarily driven by a 25.5 percent rise in energy prices.
The gasoline prices rose 41.7 percent in the country in October compared with the same month of 2020. Excluding energy prices, the consumer price index (CPI) was up 3.3 percent last month compared with October 2020.
Food prices continued to creep higher, too. Meat prices rose by almost 10 percent, on average, with bacon, in particular, going up at more than twice that rate.
October’s inflation marked a new pandemic-era high for the CPI, which came in above the Bank of Canada’s target range of between one and three percent for the seventh consecutive month. (Xinhua) -rir
