Canada economy grows 0.3% in August from July

OTTAWA (Reuters): Canada’s economy gained momentum for the third straight month in August as output in the energy sector expanded at the fastest clip in eight months, confirming expectations of solid third-quarter growth.

Gross domestic product climbed 0.3 percent from the previous month as oil and gas extraction surged, Statistics Canada said on Monday, beating market expectations of 0.2 percent growth. Year-on-year growth was 2.4 percent.

Statscan’s revised data showed monthly GDP grew 0.4 percent in July. On a quarterly basis, GDP shrank 0.4 percent, annualized, in the second quarter but the central bank and private sector economists predict a rebound in the third-quarter with about 2 percent growth.

Other contributors to growth in August were the finance and insurance sector, retail trade and construction. Sectors that shrank included manufacturing, wholesale trade, utilities and some tourism-related industries.

Both the Bank of Canada and the government sharply cut their growth forecasts last week for this year to about 2 percent from closer to 3 percent previously.

Statscan will release its quarterly GDP figures on Nov. 30. Quarterly data is expenditure-based while the monthly GDP data is based on industry output.