MNI: 5 Things We Learned From Canadian GDP Data>

By Yali N'Diaye

     OTTAWA (MNI) - The following are the key points from the November 

data on Canadian GDP by industry released Wednesday by Statistics 

Canada: 

     - November GDP increased 0.4%, matching market expectations, and 

marking the largest gain since May 2017. The year-over-year growth pace 

picked up to 3.5% from 3.4% in October. 

     - Gains were widespread across 17 of 20 industrial sectors, led by 

the goods-producing industries, which were up 0.8% on the month. 

Services were also up, with a 0.3% monthly gain lifting the 12-month 

growth rate to 3.2% from 3.1%. 

     - Gains in the goods sector were led by mining, quarrying, and oil 

and gas extraction (+0.5%) as well as manufacturing, which was up 1.8%, 

the largest gain since February 2014. Non-durable manufacturing rose 

1.1% and durable-manufacturing expanded 2.5%, the largest increase since 

December 2011. GDP excluding manufacturing was up 0.3%. 

     - Gains were also widespread in the services sector, including a 

0.6% increase in retail sales supported by promotional events related to 

Black Friday. 

     - Overall the report was strong and more than offset October's weak 

performance, showing that the economy kept a solid momentum in the 

fourth quarter despite two Bank of Canada rate hikes in July and 

September. Still, assuming GDP was flat in December, annualized growth 

would slow to 1.7% in the fourth quarter from 2.3% in the third quarter 

(based on GDP by industry measures), suggesting December needs a good 

showing for the fourth quarter to prove as strong as the third quarter. 

--MNI Ottawa Bureau; email: yali.ndiaye@marketnews.com 

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