As concerns of a recession continue to loom, Canada’s gross domestic product saw a small 0.1% bump in November,This marks the second month in a row of 0.1% growth, and was led by gains in the services-producing sector, up 0.2%. With border restrictions dropping in the fall, air transportation grew another 4.6% in November — the third consecutive month of gains — and accommodation services saw a 2.5% gain. The finance and insurance sector, after three months of declines, finally posted a 0.
Residential building construction experienced the biggest decline, shrinking 1.8%. The report notes that this is the seventh drop for the sub-sector in eight months and is the largest since May 2022, when unionized construction workers were on strike, which led to countless delays. Repair construction was also down a noticeable 1% in November, something StatCan attributes to contractions in both residential and non-residential repairs.
“Declines in alterations and improvement and new construction of public buildings more than offset gains in new construction of industrial and commercial buildings,” StatCan said.