Canadian GDP Declines in February, Offsetting January’s Gains

On Wednesday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that Canadian real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.2% in February, partly offsetting January’s 0.4% increase.

After driving growth in January, goods-producing industries declined 0.6% in February as mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction and construction contributed the most to the aggregate’s decline.

Services-producing industries edged 0.1% lower as contractions in transportation and warehousing and real estate and rental and leasing were partially offset by a rise in finance and insurance. Overall, 12 of 20 industrial sectors declined.

March Estimate

Advance information indicates that real GDP increased 0.1% in March, StatCan reported. Increases in mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction, retail trade, and transportation and warehousing were partially offset by decreases in manufacturing and wholesale trade. Owing to its preliminary nature, this estimate will be updated on May 30 with the release of the official GDP by industry data for March.

With this advance estimate for March, real GDP by industry data suggest that the economy expanded 0.4% in Q1. The official estimate for the first quarter will be available on May 30, when the official estimate of real GDP by income and expenditure is released.