Canada's economy grew at an annualized pace of 0.1% in May, led by the oil and gas extraction sector, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Most economists had expected growth of between 0.1 and 0.2% for the month.
After posting annualized growth of 4.9% in the final quarter of last year and 6.1% in 2010's first quarter, the central bank now expects gross domestic product to expand just 3% for the three-month period ended June 30.
After a strong initial recovery from the recession, Canada's economic growth is beginning to slow. In the fourth quarter of 2009, GDP expanded by 4.9%, followed by a 6.1% advance in the first three months of this year. Since then, monthly numbers have weakened -- with 0.6% growth in March and a flat reading in April.
The Bank of Canada's now expects the economy to grow 3.5% in all of 2010 and see 2.9% expansion in 2011.
BMO Capital Markets economist Benjamin Reitzes said in a note to clients that "we expect continued growth but ebbing momentum."
