Consumer inflation ticked up in February, according to the latest data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The Paris-based OECD says that annual inflation increased slightly to 1.8% in February, compared with 1.7% in the year to January; noting that the slight increase in the overall annual rate is masking opposing movements in energy and food prices. While energy price inflation accelerated to 3.4% in February, food price inflation slowed to 1.8%. Excluding food and energy, inflation was broadly stable at 1.6% in February.
For Canada, annual inflation jumped to 1.2% in February, up from 0.5% in January. Inflation also rose in the United States and Britain, but slowed in Italy, France, and Germany. And, in Japan, consumer prices fell by 0.7% in February, compared with a decline of 0.3% in January.
Outside the OECD area, annual inflation increased in all major economies, the group says, with inflation rising in China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Russia and Brazil.
On a month-over-month basis, consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 0.5% in February, it reports. Prices increased by 1.2% in Canada, leading the way, with smaller increases throughout the rest of the G7.