Canadian inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell by 0.2 percent in April year-over-year, down from a 0.9 percent gain in the previous month. This was the first year-over-year decline in the CPI since September 2009. Energy prices were the main drag on inflation due to the drop in global demand, excluding this category, national CPI rose by 1.6 percent year-over-year. Prices were also down for transportation (-4.4%), clothing and footwear (-4.1%) and recreation and education (-0.7%). In contrast, prices (3.4%) for food accelerated in April. The Bank of Canada's three measures of trend inflation fell 0.1 percentage points, averaging 1.8 percent in April. The CPI was negative in all provinces except for Quebec and BC.
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