Canadian gross domestic product increased 0.4% in November, according to Statistics Canada data released January 31, beating analysts’ call for growth of around 0.3%.
Gains were broad-based; manufacturing increased 1.4%, retail trade was up 0.7% and finance (up 1.5%) and construction (up 1.1%) also saw growth in the month.
“Canadians were busy in November, resulting in one of the healthiest monthly GDP reports in recent memory,” TD Economics’ Brian DePratto said in a note to investors. “Gains were fairly widespread, with manufacturing nearly reversing the previous month's losses, while the service side of the economy saw continued growth – although historic revisions undid what was shaping up to be a 15 month expansion streak.
“The healthy November GDP figures add to the evidence that the Canadian economy continues to shake off some of the setbacks earlier in the year.”
Not all sectors saw growth in November; utilities output fell 3% after declining 1.9% in October, and wholesale trade decreased 0.1%.
RBC assistant chief economist Paul Ferley said StatsCan’s announcement is a good indication that overall Q4 GDP growth will remain positive, and called for a gain of 1.8%, compared with a previous call of 1.5%.
“Though this increase would still be down from the 3.5% increase recorded in Q3, that increase was temporarily buoyed by oil sands production rebounding from wildfire-related shutdowns in Q2 that sent GDP growth into negative territory, declining 1.3%.”
The loonie grew more than three-tenths of a cent relative to the U.S. dollar after the announcement. As of press time, the Canadian dollar was trading at around 76.6 cents U.S.
@EmmaHampelBIV
