Canada GDP Growth Picks Up in 1Q But Pace Lags Expectations

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Canada's economy picked up strongly in the early months of the year, though the pace was weaker than expected as a slower buildup in business inventory moderated a rise in household spending on services.

Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced in the economy, rose 1.7% at an annualized rate in the first quarter to 2.366 trillion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $1.729 trillion, Statistics Canada said Friday. Market expectations were for a 2.2% expansion for the period, just under the 2.8% growth the Bank of Canada has projected.

Canada's economy expanded by a downwardly revised 0.1% in the in the final three months of 2023 from the quarter before, markedly slower than the 1.0% growth previously estimated.

Industry-level data for March showed that the economy was essentially unchanged from the previous month after increasing 0.2% in February. That was in line with Statistics Canada's advance estimate for the month.

The data agency provided an early estimate for April that suggests that GDP rose 0.3% month-over-month.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 31, 2024 09:10 ET (13:10 GMT)

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