Annual inflation rate jumped to highest reading since 2011

Statistics Canada says the country’s annual inflation rating in July jumped to its highest reading since September 2011.

The federal agency says higher gasoline prices helped push the rate to 3 per cent on a year-over-year basis compared with a 2.5 per cent increase in June.

Gasoline prices were up 25 per cent, while the cost of air transportation was up 28.2 per cent compared with a year ago.

Food purchased from restaurants also gained 4.4 per cent, while mortgage interest costs rose 5.2 per cent.

According to Thomson Reuters Eikon, economists had expected a year-over-year inflation rate of 2.5 per cent.

The result put inflation at the upper end of the Bank of Canada’s target range of one to three per cent.