Gas, electricity prices pushes Saskatchewan’s January inflation rate to 1.6%

Higher gas and electricity prices drove up Saskatchewan’s annual inflation rate to 1.6 per cent in January.

That’s up from 0.6 per cent in December.

READ MORE: Bank of Canada, Ottawa renew 2% inflation target agreement

A primary driver of the increase was gas, according to Statistics Canada, which was up 27.8 per cent from January 2016.

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Electricity prices were up 8.8 per cent from a year ago, the largest 12-month increase since May 2010.

Prices were up in six of the eight major components led by transportation at 6.9 per cent.

The exceptions were food, which was down 3.4 per cent, and household operations, down 0.9 per cent due to a 1.9 per cent decrease in homeowners’ replacement cost.

READ MORE: Gas prices are up but consumers are paying less for food, January inflation rate shows

Canada’s inflation rate in January was 2.1 per cent due to a surge in gasoline prices.