The Consumer Price Index rose by 1.0% in January compared with January 2014, down from the 1.5% rate of annualized increase in December.
The CPI in January for goods was down 0.2% from a year earlier while the CPI for services rose 2.1%.
Gasoline prices decreased 26.9% from January 2014, after falling 16.6% in December. Overall, energy prices fell 12.9% between January 2014 and January 2015, following a 6.4% annualized rate of increase in December. Excluding energy, the annualized Consumer Price Index rose 2.3% in January, up from 2.2% in December.
Food prices rose 4.6% (the largest annualized gain since November, 2011) in the 12 months to January, after a 3.7% rate of annualized increase was posted in December. The cost of food purchased from stores in the 12 months to January grew by 5.4%, up from a 4.2% increase in December. Prices for fresh vegetables and fresh fruits posted higher year-over-year increases than those reported in December. Prices for food purchased from restaurants advanced 2.8% on a year-over-year basis, following annualized growth of 2.5% is in November.
Costs associated with shelter rose 2.0% in January over January 2014 after increasing 2.4% in December. Consumers paid 13.9% more for natural gas after a 16.5% annualized rate of increase in December. In contrast, consumers paid 21.1% less for fuel oil than they did in January 2014
Consumers paid 2.0% more for household operations, furnishings and equipment in January compared to January 2014, down from the 2.7% rate of increase recorded in December.
Transportation prices fell 5.3% in the 12 months to January 2015, following a 2.8% decrease in December as gasoline prices continued to decline. Conversely, consumers paid 1.2% more on a year-over-year basis for the purchase of passenger vehicles, after paying 1.6% more in December.
In the 12 months to January 2015, consumer prices rose in six provinces. The CPI grew the most in both Ontario (+1.6%), followed by Saskatchewan with an annualized rate of 1.4%. The largest decline occurred in Prince Edward Island (-1.9%). The CPI in Quebec was up 0.7% from January 2014.