The story of economic growth in this country proved something of a good-news-bad-news story.
Figures released this morning by Statistics Canada Friday showed the economy expanded an an annualized pace of 2.9% in the last three months of 2013.
That was better than the downward-revised pace of 2.4% seen in the U.S. over the same period. The figure also bested the 2.5% growth rate that analysts had been expecting.
The gains were broad-based, as most industrial sectors showed expansion. Mining, oil and gas, manufacturing and the public sector all grew.
For 2013 as a whole, the Canadian economy grew by 2%
That's about three-10ths of a percentage point higher than predicted by the Bank of Canada and the latest federal budget.
The year ended on a down note, however, as bitterly cold weather all month and a massive ice storm toward the end of the month ate into growth. On a monthly basis, the Canadian economy shrank by 0.5% in December.
That's the worst monthly figure seen since the recession in 2008.
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