Figures released Tuesday by Statistics Canada showed our economy went pretty much nowhere in July, ending four straight months of growth.
The nation's number crunchers noted that the country's mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sectors contracted.
Analysts had predicted an increase of 0.1% in July following a 0.2% hike in June. Overall, the agency added, 12 of the 20 industrial sectors monitored expanded on the month, while eight declined.
Of course, needless to remind Canadians is that they are in the midst of a national election campaign set for Oct. 21, where economic issues, like the cost-of-living, have played a central role on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada has held interest rates steady since last October as it monitors Canadian economic data.
StatsCan said goods-producing industries were down 0.7% in July as outputs from all sectors - excepting utilities - declined. Services-producing industries were up for the fifth consecutive month, rising 0.3% as the majority of its sub-sectors grew.
Canada's mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sector dropped by 3.5% in July, the largest decrease since May 2016, Statistics Canada said. Support activities for those same industries slumped by 11.5%, the largest decline since December 2018, following three consecutive months of growth, as drilling and lower rigging services contracted.
Oil and gas extraction (except oil sands) fell 4.7%, the biggest monthly decline seen in a decade, the agency said - thanks, in large part, to a shutdown of some offshore production facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador because of maintenance issues.
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