Highlights:

1. Consumer prices rose 1.6% in the 12 months to February, following a 1.9% increase in January. On an unadjusted monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.4% in February, after rising 0.3% in January.

All-items Consumer Price Index (CPI):

1. The rise in the all-items CPI was due mostly to gasoline prices. Consumers paid 15.3% more at the pump in February than they did a year earlier, compared with a 23.9% increase in January.
2. Energy prices rose 4.0% between February 2009 and February 2010, after rising 8.2% in January.
3. Prices for purchase of passenger vehicles increased 3.5% on a year-over-year basis in February, following a 3.1% rise in January.
4. Prices for traveller accommodation rose 16.0% in February, due primarily to the Winter Olympics.
5. All major components in the CPI, except shelter and clothing and footwear, recorded increases in February.
6. Upward pressure on the 12-month change came primarily from higher prices for transportation (+5.9%), recreation, education and reading (+3.0%), food (+1.2%), and household operations, furnishings and equipment (+1.8%).

Main contributors to the 12-month change in the CPI:

Main upward contributors:

1. Gasoline (+15.3%)
2. Passenger vehicle insurance premiums (+7.9%)
3. Purchase of passenger vehicles (+3.5%)
4. Traveller accommodation (+16.0%)
5. Property taxes (+4.3%)

Main downward contributors:

1. Mortgage interest cost (-5.8%)
2. Natural gas (-22.8%)
3. Women’s clothing (-8.7%)
4. Fresh vegetables (-10.7%)
5. Air transportation (-9.5%)

Main contributors to the monthly change in the CPI, not seasonally adjusted:

Main upward contributors:

1. Traveller accommodation (+18.6%)
2. Travel tours (+17.3%)
3. Passenger vehicle insurance premiums (+0.7%)
4. Men’s clothing (+2.2%)
5. Purchase of passenger vehicles (+0.4%)

Main downward contributors:

1. Gasoline (-1.7%)
2. Air transportation (-5.3%)
3. Fresh fruit (-3.2%)
4. Mortgage interest cost (-0.4%)
5. Fuel oil and other fuels (-3.1%)