Canada: Annual CPI in January drops to 1.4% vs 1.5% expected

The data published by Statistics Canada on Wednesday revealed that inflation in January, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, rose 0.1% on a monthly basis and brought the annual rate down to 1.4% from 2% recorded in December. 

Moreover, the Bank of Canada's core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, came in at 0.2% and 1.5% on a monthly and yearly basis, respectively.

Key takeaways from the press release

• Energy costs declined 6.9%, while the growth in the price of services slowed to 2.7% as transitory pressures from the air transportation, telephone services and travel tours indexes, which boosted the all-items CPI in December 2018, dissipated.
• Excluding gasoline, the CPI was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.
• On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI declined 0.1% in January, following a 0.2% increase in December.