Consumer prices rose 2.3% in March, mainly because of higher gasoline prices, Statistics Canada said today.

The increase, the year-over-year change from March 2006, was slightly higher than the 2% rise recorded in February.

The national 2.3% increase in gas masked big regional variations. Prices in Prince Edward Island surged 14.3% and Ontario residents paid 12.8% more, but in New Brunswick, pump prices were up by only 2.2%.

Excluding energy components, the 12-month rate of increase in the all-items index slowed to 2.1% in March after a 2.2% increase the previous month. This index was pushed up by costs for owned accommodation and by prices for food purchased in restaurants and fresh vegetables.

The Bank of Canada’s core index rose by 2.3% compared with March last year. This index, used by the Bank to monitor the inflation-control target, had posted a slightly faster rate of growth — 2.4% — the previous month.

Prices for the basket of goods that Statistics Canada monitors rose 0.8% in March from February, the most pronounced monthly increase in the consumer price index since September 2005, when Hurricane Katrina caused a 0.9% jump.

Year-over-year, higher costs for new housing — up 6.9% in March, although the increase is the lowest in six months — and higher interest rates on mortgages also contributed to the overall rise in March.

Fresh vegetables and restaurant meals were also up, Statistics Canada said.

But the drop in the price of natural gas limited the rise. Natural gas prices fell 15.7% in March, compared with March 2006.

Natural gas plunged 30.4% in Ontario. Alberta, where gas is produced, was the only province not to record a drop. Prices there shot up 23.5% in March, partly because of cold weather and partly because of a decrease in the supplies in storage.

Other prices with noteworthy year-over-year drops in March included video equipment, computer equipment and supplies and adults’ clothing. However, women’s clothing costs rose 4.4% from February because of the introduction of the new spring lines.