Canadian Economy Declines 0.1% in October

The Statistics Canada Daily reports declines in wholesale trade, manufacturing and in the output of real estate agents and brokers contributed the most to the 0.1 % October decrease. Residential construction and retail trade also fell. Not all trends were downward as economic activity advanced in several service industries while the output of the energy sector regained some of the ground lost in the previous two months. Value added in wholesale trade fell 2.7% in October. In addition, the wholesaling of automotive and personal and household products, as well as recyclable metal products, fell significantly in October. The decline in wholesaling activities was due in part to the lower volume of international trade, both in terms of exports and imports. The decline was widespread among the sub-sectors, but more notable in beer, wine and liquor stores, home centres and hardware stores, and furniture and home furnishing stores. The overall decline in retail trade mirrored a drop in imports of consumer goods. Activity at new car dealers was higher in October, despite a decrease in the number of new vehicles sold, suggesting a rise in their volume of used cars sold and repair work. Used car dealers reported a substantial increase in activity in October for a third consecutive month. Activity in sawmills, as well as in the upstream forestry and logging industry, remained relatively stable over the last three months as exports of lumber picked up slightly after a series of declines. This may bring slight relief to regions that have seen job losses in past months. There is little good news on the construction front as activity on construction sites fell 0.3% in October. The decline in residential building construction outpaced the increases posted elsewhere in this sector and housing construction decreased 1.2% in October.