By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA--Canada's annual inflation rate cooled in December as slower growth in gasoline prices helped offset increases in mortgage interest costs and prices for clothing and personal care supplies and equipment
The country's consumer-price index rose 6.3% from a year earlier in December following an advance of 6.8% the month before, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. The market was expecting the index to rise 6.4% for the month, according to TD Securities.
On a month-over-month basis, prices fell 0.6% in December. On a seasonally adjusted basis, CPI was down 0.1% from the previous month.
The average of the Bank of Canada's preferred measures for underlying core inflation in December was 5.6%, down from 5.8% in the previous month. Core inflation provides a measure of price changes that excludes volatile goods such as food and energy.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-17-23 0848ET
