Canada’s economy grew by 0.3 per cent in January, fully offsetting the small declines in the previous two months.
Statistics Canada reported Friday that 18 of 20 industries the data agency tracks got bigger.
Goods-producing industries grew by 0.6 per cent while the service sector eked out a 0.2 per cent gain. Economists had been expecting a slight gain of about 0.1 per cent, according to Bloomberg estimates.
Manufacturing grew by 1.5 per cent, also more than offsetting declines in November and December.
After shrinking for seven months in a row, the construction sector expanded by 1.9 per cent during the month — the biggest monthly expansion since the summer of 2013.
“It was nice to see construction turn in a positive performance after more than half a year in decline,” economist Brian DePratto with TD Bank said.
Finance and insurance grew by 0.4 per cent, while retail was flat.
One source of weakness was the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas sector, which was down for the fifth consecutive month in January, contracting 3.1 per cent.
