Gains in manufacturing and the oil and gas sector kept Canada’s economy chugging along in October, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.
Better-than-expected growth in Canada came as the U.S. economy grew by 5% in the third quarter – its fastest pace in 11 years.
Higher business and consumer spending south of the border should help Canada weather the storm of lower oil prices in 2015, economists said.
Canada’s GDP increased by 0.3% in October. That’s higher than the tepid 0.1% rate that economists expected, and follows growth of 0.4% for September.
CIBC World Markets now expects growth to come in close to 3% for the final three months of 2014. That’s higher than the Bank of Canada’s forecast of 2.5%.
