A smaller increase in the price of gasoline meant Canada's annual inflation rate slid to 1.4 per cent in March - the lowest growth rate since January 2007, Statistics Canada said Thursday. The inflation rate has now slowed for four consecutive months. February's rate was 1.8 per cent. The one-year change in the Bank of Canada's core index, which factors out volatile elements such as food and energy, was 1.3 per cent in March, down from the 1.5 per cent increase in February. This slowdown in core inflation was mostly a result of lower car prices, Statistics Canada said. The main factor pushing prices up in March was higher mortgage interest costs, which rose 8.3 per cent. "The upswing in prices of new housing in March continued to put more upward pressure on mortgage interest costs than the change in interest rates," said Statistics Canada. Prices that Canadians paid at the gasoline pumps rose by 7.9 per cent from March 2007...