Canada's economic recovery accelerated more than expected in January, led by the manufacturing, construction and wholesale sectors, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.
The federal agency said gross domestic product grew 0.6% during the month, marking the fifth consecutive monthly increase. However, the agency revised its December GDP reading to 0.5% from 0.6%.
Most economists had expected GDP to grow 0.5% in January.
Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the January number brings the annualized growth to 6%.
Statistics Canada said the manufacturing sector grew 1.9% in January, after posting a 1.2% gain the previous month. The construction industry saw 1.7% growth in January.
Wholesale activity advanced 2.9%, with increases in all trade groups except for apparel and alcohol and tobacco products. "The most notable increases were in motor vehicles, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals and food products," he said.
Porter also said "by any metric, that is a robust recovery, if it can be sustained for any length of time," adding "the early read on February GDP looks good, too."
He said February saw 60,000 full-time jobs added to the economy, while housing starts soared 70% year over year and auto sales jumped by an annualized 25%.
The Bank of Canada's forecast of 3.5% growth for the first quarter of 2010 "is fading into the sunset," he added.
