THE REST OF CANADA

The country’s annual inflation rate was 1.1 per cent in August as lower fuel prices dragged the reading to the lower reaches of the Bank of Canada’s target range. The result was below the 1.3 per cent year-over-year increase in July.

The August CPI found prices rose in most major categories compared with a year earlier — with the cost of electricity, air transportation and passenger vehicles contributing the biggest upward pushes to the overall inflation rate. But those increases were offset by lower prices for items like gasoline, fuel oil, and natural gas,

Retail sales slipped 0.1 per cent in July, compared with the previous month. Revised figures showed that monthover-month retail sales were essentially flat in May and June after rising 0.8 per cent in April.

Overall sales dipped slightly in July and totalled just over $44.1 billion. But retail sales increased 0.2 per cent in July when gas stations were excluded.