B.C.’s Consumer Price Index rose 2.7% in the 12 months to June, following a 3.5% gain in May, Statistics Canada announced this morning.
Gas prices increased 19.6% and prices for restaurant food rose 8.8% in the province.
The slower price increase in B.C. is in line with the other provinces, all of which posted a drop in the rate of their price increases in June.
Nationally, consumer prices rose 3.1% in June, following a 3.7% increase posted in May.
According to Statistics Canada, the price increases are being driven primarily by higher prices for gasoline and food purchased from stores.
It noted the rate of that increase slowed in June largely due to lower prices for the purchases of passenger vehicles and traveller accommodation.
It noted that the purchase price of passenger vehicles fell 3.1% in the 12 months to June, following a 0.7% increase in May. Another reason for the slowdown in price increases in June was a smaller year-over-year increase in gasoline prices that month, Statistics Canada said.
Jenny Wagler
Twitter: JennyWagler_BIV