The following is a 30 November 2010 news release by Reuters Canada.

Canada's economy disappointed in the third quarter with the weakest growth rate in a year, while the economy shrank outright in September, adding pressure on policy makers to safeguard the patchy recovery.

Gross domestic product growth slowed to a 1.0 percent annual rate in the July-September period because of declining exports and a housing downturn, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday.

The performance fell short of market predictions of 1.4 percent growth and was down from revised 2.3 percent in the second quarter and 5.6 percent in the first quarter. The agency originally reported a second-quarter figure of 2.0 percent growth.

The economy contracted 0.1 percent month-over-month in September -- the worst showing since August 2009 -- as oil and gas extraction and factory production fell.

Canada's brisk recovery from a mild 2009 recession began to lose momentum midway through this year as a strong currency curbed exports and the trade-reliant country could not shake free of the troubles hobbling its top customer, the United States.

The GDP report could raise expectations the Bank of Canada will keep its benchmark interest rate on hold longer than previously thought.

The central bank increased borrowing costs three times between June and September, becoming the first among the Group of 7 advanced countries to do so after the global financial crisis. It has since held rates steady at 1 percent, and while no one sees a rate hike at its next meeting on December 7, markets are divided over the timing of the next hike.

Predictions for the date of the next increase range from January to July.