Canada's real gross domestic product increased by 0.2% to $1.58 trillion in May, marking the fifth consecutive monthly increase, according to Statistics Canada data released July 31.
The growth was led by service industries output, in particular retail and wholesale trade, which increased 0.5% to $1.11 trillion. Almost all major service industries categories saw increases; the exceptions were information and cultural industries, which fell 0.3% to $65.2 billion, and public administration, which remained flat.
Goods production dipped by 0.3% after a similar drop in April. This was due largely to a decline of 0.3% in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction also fell by 1.7%.
Year-over-year, real GDP growth for all industries was 1.6%.
The biggest gains in May compared with one year ago were:
- arts, entertainment and recreation (up 5.9%);
- educational services (up3.8%); and
- utilities (up 3.5%).
