The economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.1 per cent in the first quarter, helped by business investment and household spending, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. The result was down from an annualized rate of 6.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021. Statistics Canada said the change came as export volumes dropped 2.4 per cent for the quarter, following two consecutive quarterly increases.
Paul Ashworth, chief North American economist at Capital Economics, said the growth for the first three months of the year was well below the consensus estimate, but broadly in line with the Bank of Canada's April monetary policy report. "The unexpected weakness in first-quarter GDP growth was principally due to a downward revision to the January data, which now shows a 0.2 per cent month over month decline, as the Omicron-related restrictions had a bigger impact than previously thought," Ashworth wrote in a report. However, he said the real economy remains on a strong footing, which means the Bank of Canada can press ahead with raising its key interest rate by half a percentage point on Wednesday.
This is an excerpt from the CTV News Article.