Inflation rate cools to 2% on cheaper gasoline

Canada's inflation rate cooled to two per cent in November, down from 2.4 per cent the previous month mainly due to a sharp decline in gasoline prices.

Statistics Canada said Friday that gasoline prices declined almost six per cent last month, down to their lowest level since February 2011 and enough to drag the overall inflation rate lower.

The transportation index declined by 0.2 per cent in the past year, the only subindex that declined.

Economists had been expecting the inflation rate to stay at 2.4 per cent during the month on the assumption that price increases in other areas would have been enough to offset cheaper energy. But that didn't happen.

Aside from gasoline, some of the major contributors to price decreases were travel tours at 10 per cent, video equipment at 9.3 per cent, digital computing equipment and devices at 4.2 per cent.

Regionally,prices rose at slower year-over-year rates in nine provinces in November compared with October, the data agency said. Inflation slowed the most in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, followed by Alberta. British Columbia was the only province where prices increased at a faster year-over-year rate in November than in October.