Oct. 31, 2013 10:13 a.m. ET-OTTAWA—The Canadian economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in August as oil and gas output surged, suggesting third-quarter growth could beat the Bank of Canada’s recently downgraded forecast.
Gross domestic product, the sum total of goods and services produced in the country, rose 0.3% to 1.59 trillion Canadian dollars ($1.52 billion), Statistics Canada said Thursday. Oil and gas extraction jumped 2.8%, the largest monthly gain since October 2012.
Year-over-year GDP growth accelerated 2.0%—the fastest rate since July 2012—from an upwardly revised 1.5% in the prior month.
The consensus call was for monthly GDP to slow to 0.1% from the 0.6% expansion in the previous month, and for the year-over-year rate to quicken to 1.7% from the originally estimated 1.4% in July, according to a report from Royal Bank of Canada. RY.T -0.28% Royal Bank of Canada Canada: Toronto $70.02 -0.20 -0.28% Oct. 31, 2013 4:16 pm Volume : 3.90M P/E Ratio 12.85 Market Cap $101.18 Billion Dividend Yield 3.83% Rev. per Employee $515,159 09/04/13 Some of Canada’s Big Banks Con… 08/30/13 Canada Stocks to Watch: Couche… 08/29/13 Canada’s Big Five Banks Didn’t… More quote details and news » RY.T in Your Value Your Change Short position July’s monthly figure wasn’t revised.
“Canada’s resource base came through in August, enough to offset the bleeding in factory activity,” CIBC World Markets chief economist Avery Shenfeld wrote in a note to clients. “Overall, a solid number, enough to have the quarter tracking in the mid-2% range,” he said.
Last week, the central bank cut its forecast for third-quarter annualized growth to 1.8% from 3.8%, and in a surprise move, abandoned its 18-month-old rate-hike bias, citing greater concern over inflation which has been persistently below the 2% target for more than a year. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz told a parliamentary committee Tuesday that exports will take longer to pick up than in past economic recoveries.
Fueled largely by energy output, the broader mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sector grew 1.9% in August, the largest gain since January. Mining and quarrying, excluding oil and gas extraction, shrank 1.1% as declines in potash and metallic mineral mining more than offset an increase in coal mining.
Other sectors that posted gains included agriculture and forestry, wholesale trade and retail trade.
Manufacturing output shrank 0.3% after spiking 0.9% in July. Construction activity was unchanged as a decline in residential and non-residential building offset gains in engineering and repair work.
Overall, output of goods-producing industries rose 0.4% and the services producing industries climbed 0.3%.
Write to Nirmala Menon at nirmala.menon@wsj.com
See more here: Canada August Growth Outpaces Views
沒有留言:
張貼留言