Canada's annual inflation rate accelerates to 0.5% in September

Canada’s annual inflation rate in September rose to 0.5%, from 0.1% in August, on transportation, recreation and higher prices for new housing, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the annual rate to be 0.4% in September.

The Canadian dollar CAD= extended a slight gain, touching 1.3107 to the greenback, or 76.30 U.S. cents, after the data.

Gasoline prices fell 10.7% in September on a year-over-year basis. Air transportation prices fell less than usual in September, as traditional travel patterns continued to be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On the face it’s not a bad batch of data,” said Andrew