Canada Inflation Accelerates in June on Gasoline, Shelter Costs

Canadian inflation returned to positive territory in June on higher prices for gas, food and shelter.

The consumer price index climbed 0.7% from the same month a year earlier, after two straight below-zero readings, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday from Ottawa. Increased gasoline costs, up 11% from May after declining sharply, drove the broader index higher.

Core inflation readings -- seen as a better measure of underlying price pressure -- also unexpectedly picked up, rising to 1.7%, from 1.6% in May.

Annual inflation was stronger than economists expected, with economists in a Bloomberg survey predicting a 0.2% reading.

Clothing prices rose 1% in June, recovering some of the declines from a month earlier. Shelter costs were up 0.5% in the month, while food climbed 0.3%.

— With assistance by Stephen Wicary