OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian economy was most likely flat in September, following a gain of 0.4% in August, with third quarter annualized GDP likely rising 1.9%, data showed on Friday.
As of September, Canada’s GDP remains about 1% below pre-pandemic levels, Statistics Canada data showed.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday forecast the Canadian economy would expand by 5.5% on a annualized basis in the third quarter, up from a 1.1% contraction in the second quarter. It also signaled a rate hike could come as soon as April 2022.
The August gain of 0.4% was behind analyst estimates of 0.7%. Overall, 15 of 20 industrial sectors posted increases, with services-producing industries up by 0.6% while goods-producing industries declined 0.1%.
The Canadian dollar was trading 0.2% lower at 1.2363 to the greenback, or 80.89 U.S. cents.
(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; editing by John Stonestreet and Chizu Nomiyama)
