Helen Barill
The press

Gross domestic product rose 0.1%, while preliminary estimates from Statistics Canada pointed to a 0.1% contraction. The agency now estimates that the Canadian economy faltered in August and GDP was flat.

Growth in July “will not prevent Canada’s economy from experiencing a significant slowdown in the third quarter after solid growth in the previous quarter,” National Bank economists said in their commentary. Two months into the quarter, GDP is showing a modest 0.7% annualized growth.

In fact, Q3 could end with estimated growth of 0.1% in July and 0% in August with annualized growth of just 1%. That’s half the 2% growth that the Bank of Canada projected in its most recent forecast monetary policy report.

The Canadian economy grew by 3% after the first six months of the year. Despite the better-than-expected performance in July, Canada’s economy is slowing, notes Randall Bartlett, Desjardins’ senior director for Canada’s economy. “So make no mistake: Canada’s economy is slowing and a prolonged pause in rate hikes after the fourth quarter remains likely,” he said Thursday.

Meanwhile, most economists are expecting another 50 basis point hike in Bank of Canada interest rates on October 26th.

sectors

In July, 11 of the 20 economic sectors made progress. The goods sector was up 0.5%, while the services sector fell 0.1%.

The retail sector fell 1.9% in July, according to Statistics Canada, and is at its lowest level since December 2021. Gas stations and grocery stores. “, says the organization.

Although gasoline prices fell, service stations reduced activity in July for the third straight month.

Grocery stores fell 1.8% in July, the second straight month. The decline was seen in all four types of stores in the subsector, with beer, wine & liquor stores and supermarkets and other grocery stores reporting the largest declines.

The economy posted weak growth of 0.1% in June after faltering in May.

Advance data from Statistics indicates that real GDP was basically unchanged in August. This estimate will be revised on October 28th when the official GDP data for the month of August will be released.