Statistics
Canada reported on Friday that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was unchanged m-o-m in March after
an unrevised 0.2 per cent m-o-m expansion
in February. This was in line with economists’
predictions.
In the first
quarter of 2024, the Canadian GDP grew
0.4 per cent q-o-q, following a
downwardly revised flat q-o-q performance (from +0.2 per cent q-o-q) in the fourth quarter of 2023.
This represented the strongest quarterly advance in real GDP since the first
quarter of 2023 (+0.6 per cent q-o-q).
According to
the report, the GDP’s q-o-q increase was driven by higher household spending on
services, while slower inventory accumulations moderated overall growth.
Expressed at an
annualized rate, Canada’s GDP expanded 1.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2024
after a downwardly revised 0.1 per cent uptick (from +1.01 per cent) in the
previous quarter. This marked the strongest annual expansion since the first
quarter of 2023 (+2.6 per cent y-o-y) but was worse than economists’ forecast
of a 2.2 per cent growth.
Also,
Statistics Canada revealed that its preliminary data indicates that real GDP rose 0.3
per cent m-o-m in April.