Real gross domestic product in Canada grew 0.3% in February, matching the growth seen in January, according to Statistics Canada data released this morning.
The increases were largely attributable to growth in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction, which jumped 2.2% from January to $129.1 billion.
Mining and quarrying increased by 6.4%, due in large part to the increase in output from potash mines.
Increases in oil production led to a 1.0% growth in oil and gas extraction, following a 0.2% dip in January.
The output of service industries increased by 0.1%, due in large part to growth in arts and entertainment, the finance and insurance sector and the public sector (which includes health care and public and education administration).
Year-over-year, mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction grew by 4.0% and utilities increased by 4.9% to $38.8 billion.
The biggest decreases in February when compared with the previous month were in:
accommodation and food services (down 1.0%);
management of companies and enterprises (down 0.5%); and
administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (down 0.4%).
The Canadian dollar this morning increased to just over US$0.99 on the news.
