Statistics Canada said Tuesday.Gas prices were the biggest month-to-month Consumer Price Index report, the agency said, up 4.7 per cent from December.Food prices rose at a slightly higher rate than in December, up 10.4 per cent in January compared with 10.1 per cent the month before.Prices at the grocery store were higher for for meat (up 7.3 per cent), bakery products (up 15.5 per cent), dairy (up 12.4 per cent) and fresh vegetables (up 14.7 per cent).Statistics Canada said the cost fresh or frozen chicken rose 9.0 per cent annually, owed largely to avian flu outbreaks, supply chain kinks and strong seasonal demand.Canada’s annual inflation rate has been slowing since the summer, reaching 6.3 per cent in December.
Read more: These economic ‘wildcards’ might keep inflation higher for longer Read next: Part of the Sun breaks free and forms a strange vortex, baffling scientists The agency said that lower cell prices were among the biggest factors bringing down the inflation rate in January.Cellular services prices were down 7.9 per cent annually in January as some Boxing Day sales stretched into the new year, StatCan said.While Canadians continue to pay more on their mortgages amid higher interest rates from the Bank of Canada, the agency said year-over-year growth in shelter prices also decelerated in January as the housing market kept cooling.More to come.— with files from the Canadian Press.