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Canada’s annual inflation rate: 2.8% in February, down from January

Statistics Canada released its Consumer Price Index report for February this week, and the numbers say the inflation rate for the second month of the new year was 2.8 per cent.
That number was a decimal point higher in January at 2.9 per cent.
According to the report, the notable decelerating contributors to this month’s index were the decreasing cost of cellular services, food purchased from stores and internet access services.
Year-over-year, gas prices have risen slowly — up 0.8 per cent in this February report.
Month-over-month, however, gas is up 4 per cent, from what federal analysts say is due to higher global prices for crude oil. The uptick comes following a period of voluntary production cuts that some oil-producing nations had been making.

“Consumers who signed on to a cell phone plan in February paid 26.5 per cent less year over year, following a 16.4 per cent decline in January,” the report reads. “The year-over-year decline was driven by lower prices for new plans and increases in data allowances for some cellular service plans.”
READ MORE: Canada’s annual inflation rate: 2.9% in January
Prices for groceries continue to increase and remain elevated, despite the slow in overall price growth. The report says that in the last four years, the price of groceries purchased from stores increased 21.6 per cent.

While the Consumer Price Index paints a picture of Canada’s national economic health, the toll inflation can take on an individual basis differs person to person. Statistics Canada has created an interactive tool that allows individuals to enter their own financial picture to see how their spending holds up against that of the country, it can be viewed here.