The cost of living increased by one per cent in October, the same pace as the previous month and well within the range that the Bank of Canada likes to see.
Statistics Canada reported Friday that seven of the eight components the agency tracks in calculating the consumer price index were higher.
The lone exception was transportation, which includes gas prices. That number has now fallen for 12 consecutive months. Gas prices have fallen by 17.1 per cent compared to October of 2014.
But as the cratering of oil prices stretches beyond a calendar year now, it's likely that gasoline's impact on the inflation rate is also likely to diminish, TD Bank economist Brian DePratto said.
"The decline in transportation prices continues to decelerate as the past effects of lower energy prices work their way through the index," he said.
The Bank of Canada sets its monetary policy based on trying to achieve an inflation rate of between one and three per cent. If inflation is above that, the bank tends to hike rates. If it's below, the bank tends to cut rates to stimulate the economy, so Friday's inflation number suggests the central bank will have no urgency to move its benchmark rate one way or the other at its next policy meeting.
Regionally, the inflation rate rose in nine out of Canada's 10 provinces, with the exception being P.E.I. where the inflation rate has dropped for 11 months in a row and now stands at minus 0.8 per cent.
Elsewhere, Manitoba posted the highest inflation rate, at 1.9 per cent.
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