Canada’s economy grew narrowly in May: StatsCan

Canada’s real gross domestic product increased 0.2 per cent in May – the fifth consecutive month of growth for the economy but slightly below analyst expectations.

Service industries – retail and wholesale trade in particular – were behind much of the growth while the resource sector didn’t do as well as economists expected, contracting in May for the second month in a row.

The public sector, accommodation and food services, professional services and real estate services all posted gains.

However, transportation and warehousing services were down, Statistics Canada reported.

According to Statscan, goods production fell 0.3 per cent because of the drop in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction.

There were also declines in utilities, while manufacturing and the agriculture and forestry sector rose and construction remained unchanged in May.

The overall growth was slightly below analyst estimates that GDP would grow by 0.3 per cent from April.

“The drag came from mining/oil/gas, which subtracted one-tick from growth overall by dropping 1.7 per cent,” according to CIBC World Markets commentary.

CIBC economist Avery Shenfeld said that the wholesale and retail sectors were healthy, as expected, but factory output rose a bit less than anticipated. “We had been moving up our Q2 growth forecast as results rolled in for May, but this report will likely reverse those revisions. June will be a wildcard, as it will be swamped by the Calgary flood impacts,” Shenfeld said.