Canada’s economy registered 2.3% growth in Q3 matching market estimates

By FXStreet FXStreet (Mumbai) – Statistics Canada today reported Canada’s economy grew 2.3 per cent in the third quarter, matching expectations. Gains in automotive exports and a pick-up in consumer spending offset the drag from lower oil prices and led the economy to grow for the first time in three quarters.

Growth in the last month of the third quarter, September is however reported to have contracted 0.5 per cent, the largest since March 2009. Interruption in oil production that resulted from fires and maintenance shutdowns caused growth to decline.

Exports rose 9.4 per cent in the third quarter led by automobiles and consumer goods. Imports on the other hand fell 2.9 per cent, Statistics Canada said. Consumer spending improved at a 1.8 per cent annualized pace.

A 3 per cent decline in business investment, which dropped for the third time in a row, weighed on third quarter’s growth. Government expenditures fell by 1.6 per cent. A 5.5 per cent drop in oil and gas extraction led to contraction in output. However this weakness is considered to be temporary.

GDP had contracted in the first two quarters

Fall in Canada’s prices for exported crude oil and other commodities had caused the economy to shrink in the …read more

Source:: FX Street