The figure was not disastrous, but just enough to cause a few grey hairs to break out on the brows and scalps of investors, consumers and job seekers throughout the land -- November’s main economic number was less than celebratory.
After stalling in October, real gross domestic product for November in Canada actually backpedaled 0.1%, according to figures released Tuesday by Statistics Canada and providing a minor shock to observers that seemed to portend negative growth for the final quarter of calendar 2011.
The nation’s number-crunchers attributed the decrease to a 2.2% settling in the mining and oil and gas extraction component, along with declines in utilities of 0.6% and construction of 0.3%.
StatsCan also said activity among service-producing industries managed to show an increase rising a minimal 0.1%
A report from RBC Economics mentioned that the drop in November output suggests a more pronounced slowing in Q4 GDP growth than previously expected with the annualized rate being more than halved to 1.5% from the 3.5% recorded in Q3.
"Some of this slowing," the bank explains further, "reflects temporary factors that will reverse in subsequent months. However, to provide further assurance of a rebound in the pace of activity in 2012 to a rate that puts greater downward pressure on the unemployment rate, monetary policy is expected to remain highly accommodative."
The country’s largest bank looks for silver lining. "The decline in output in November is in part the result of transitory factors that will eventually be reversed through December and January. However, with output flat in October, fourth-quarter GDP growth looks like it will slow.
"Earlier monthly gains will result in positive growth being maintained in Q4 though with the annualized rate likely being more than halved dropping to 1.5% from the 3.5% that was recorded in the third quarter. This is down from our previous projected Q4 growth rate of 2.0%."
RBC concludes: "this revised rate represents a pace of growth that, if sustained, is unlikely to put any downward pressure on the unemployment rate."
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