OTTAWA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Canada's annual inflation rate rose 2.4 percent in May due to higher prices for vegetables and durable goods, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
The country's inflation rose 2 percent in April and was the fourth straight month with year-over-year increases.
Food prices increased 3.5 percent as fresh vegetable prices soared 16.7 percent, the largest year-over-year increase since February 2016.
Transportation prices gained 3.1 percent as the cost of air transportation jumped 8.9 percent and the cost of passenger vehicles rose 4.2 percent. Passenger vehicle insurance premiums shot up 8.1 percent.
Year-over-year prices rose in all eight categories of the index, with notable increases in food prices, up 4 percent in the 12 months until May 2019 after a 3 percent increase in April.
Faster-than-expected growth in food prices was driven by an increase of 16.7 percent in the cost of fresh vegetables compared to a year ago, as well as a 2.9 percent rise in the price of meat.
One exception was gasoline, which fell 3.7 percent in price compared to May 2018.
Excluding gasoline, the country's Consumer Price Index increased 2.7 percent year over year.
