- Canada January GDP has risen for 8 straight months
- Good producing +0.8%
- Services 0.0%
- 9 of 20 industries increased
- Advance February reading +0.8%
Residential construction and wholesale trade were two big drivers of the gain, along with utilities due to cold weather. Surprisingly, retail trade rose 2.5% in January despite lockdowns. That mostly offsets the 2.8% decline in December.
The big news here is the +0.8% preliminary reading for February, which should push Canada above pre-pandemic GDP. Canada fully reopened in March, so there will be some large tailwinds for a few months, particularly in services.
CAD was largely unchanged on the report as it navigates the oil and SPR news.
