OTTAWA: The output of Canada’s economy expanded by 0.4 per cent in November, led by mining, oil and gas, manufacturing and construction. Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that the monthly expansion was a reversal of October’s data, when the economy contracted by about 0.3 per cent. Industries that produce goods led the way with a 0.9 per cent expansion. The service sector was a relative laggard, however, expanding by just 0.2 per cent. The numbers are “consistent with an economy that is churning out modest underlying growth,” BMO economist Robert Kavcic said, “but that’s still a meaningful improvement from conditions that we saw going into 2016.”
TD Bank senior economist Brian DePratto called the November report “one of the healthiest monthly GDP reports in recent memory.” He said growth in the fourth quarter of 2016 is likely to come in ahead of the Bank of Canada’s expectations of 1.5 per cent, but a significant amount of economic slack will nevertheless remain. “As such, the Bank of Canada will probably be happy to leave its policy interest rate at 0.5 per cent well into the future, helping to support the ongoing absorption of the remaining slack,” DePratto wrote.
