Strong consumer spending helped Canadian companies continue modest growth in April, reports the Conference Board of Canada today.
Corporate growth rose 0.2% in April, according to the Conference Board's Leading Indicator of Profitability Index. As well as strong retail spending, other strong sectors were oil and gas extraction, agriculture and forestry.
Increased retail profitability also benefited Canada's manufacturing industry, especially makers of food, drink, clothing and textiles.
Mining's profitability continued to drop, a trend that has continued for the past eight months. The falling price of metals, like copper, and plummeting gold prices contributed to the largest drop in profitability since July 2009.
