(Reuters) – Canada’s annual inflation rate accelerated again in January to hit a 30-year high of 5.1%, as food and housing costs continued to rise, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
The figure is the highest since 5.5% recorded in September 1991. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the annual rate to remain at 4.8% in January.
It was the 10th consecutive month in which headline inflation topped the Bank of Canada’s 1% to 3% targeted range.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said earlier this month that interest rates needed to rise to tackle inflation.
The CPI common measure, which the central bank says is the best gauge of the economy’s underperformance, rose to 2.3% from 2.1% in December.
The Canadian dollar strengthened to 1.2665 per U.S. dollar after the data were released, or 78.96 U.S. cents.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru, David Ljunggren in Ottawa, and Fergal Smith in Toronto; Editing by Toby Chopra and David Holmes)
