Annual rate of inflation accelerates sharply to 2.6% in February

.

The annual rate of inflation accelerated sharply to 2.6 per cent in February as the federal government's temporary tax break came to an end mid-month, Statistics Canada said on Mar 18.

That marks a sizeable jump from the 1.9 per cent increase seen in January, when Canadians saw GST and HST taken off a variety of household staples, common gifts and restaurant bills for the entire month.

February's figures are well ahead of the consensus among economists polled by Reuters, which called for 2.2 per cent inflation in the month.