Canada January Inflation Rises to 2.5% on Food, Gasoline

Canada’s inflation rate unexpectedly quickened in January as prices increased for every category except for leisure products, led by groceries and fuel.

The consumer price index rose 2.5 percent in January from a year earlier after December’s 2.3 percent gain, Ottawa-based Statistics Canada said. The core rate, which excludes eight volatile items, rose to 2.1 percent from December’s 1.9 percent. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted both rates would stay at last month’s levels, according to the median of 24 estimates.