Annual inflation rate cooled in March to 0.9% as pandemic took hold

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada reports the annual pace of inflation in March slowed to a pace last seen in 2015 as the economy was gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency says the consumer price index for March was up 0.9% compared with a year ago.

The reading compared with a year-over-year increase of 2.2% in February.

Economists on average had expected a reading of 1.2% for March, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

Energy prices fell 11.6% on a year-over-year basis in March.

Excluding energy, the consumer price index rose 1.7%.