Canada’s annual inflation rate edged up to 2.4% in April, Statistics Canada reported today.

That was up one tenth of a percentage point from the March rate and was in line with economists’ expectations.

The core rate of inflation, which excludes volatile items like gasoline, and food and is closely watched by the Bank of Canada, fell to 1.7% year-over-year, down two-tenths from March. Economists had been expecting the core rate to stand pat.

Gasoline prices at the pump in April were 15.3% higher than they were a year earlier, making it the 12th month in a row that gas prices have been the biggest factor driving the cost of living higher.

Upward pressure also came from home renovation and maintenance costs, restaurant prices, property taxes and the cost of fuel oil, which was 31.6% higher than a year ago, StatsCan said.

On a month-over-month basis, consumer prices rose by 0.3% from March to April, much less than the 0.6% rise the month before. Gasoline increased by 5.2% and fresh vegetables rose 5.5% because of poor weather, the government agency said.

The Bank of Canada makes its next interest rate announcement on Wednesday. Most analysts expect the central bank will again leave its key overnight lending rate unchanged. But some analysts point out that the core rate of inflation is still running slightly above what the Bank expected in last month’s Monetary Policy Report, when it forecast core inflation would average 1.6% in the second quarter.

“With fiscal stimulus looming, the Canadian dollar no longer at a threatening level, the jobless rate probing the lowest levels in 30 years, and long-term rates highly stimulative, there is still a solid argument for the Bank to start sounding more hawkish after next week’s rate decision,” BMO Nesbitt Burns senior economist Doug Porter said in a morning commentary.