Statistics
Canada reported on Friday that the Canadian gross domestic product (GDP) grew
0.2 per cent m-o-m in July, following a
downwardly revised flat m-o-m performance
(from +0.1 per cent m-o-m) in the previous
month. Economists had predicted
no change m-o-m for July.
In y-o-y terms,
the Canadian GDP expanded 1.5 per cent in July.
According to
the report, both services-producing (+0.2 per cent m-o-m) and goods-producing
(+0.1 per cent m-o-m) businesses underpinned the July growth.
Overall, 13 of the 20
industrial sectors recorded gains in the reviewed period, led by utilities (+1.3
per cent m-o-m), agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (+0.6 per cent
m-o-m), finance and insurance (+0.5 per cent m-o-m), wholesale trade (+0.4 per
cent m-o-m), and public administration (+0.4 per cent m-o-m). Meanwhile, management
of companies and enterprises (-3.2 per cent m-o-m), information and cultural industries (-0.7 per
cent m-o-m), construction (-0.4 per cent m-o-m) and transportation and
warehousing (-0.4 per cent m-o-m) posted the biggest declines.
It was also
reported that preliminary data indicates that real GDP was essentially unchanged m-o-m
in August, reflecting advances in oil and gas extraction and the public sector, which were offset by drops in manufacturing and transportation and warehousing.