May Canadian GDP by Industry Contracts 0.1%
Headline GDP: down 0.1%
Goods-producing industries (change m-o-m): down 0.5%
Service-producing industries (change m-o-m): 0% (unchanged)
May Canadian GDP edged down 0.1% in May, well below April’s 0.4% expansion, and missing the consensus estimate of a 0.2% increase. The contraction as led by the energy sector which recorded a 0.9% decline in output as natural gas extraction fell and oil extraction rose only moderately.
Goods-producing industries were down 0.5%, led by mining excluding oil and gas extraction which fell 1.4% as the non-metal sector, which includes diamonds and potash, recorded a significant drop. Forestry, still affected by the US slowdown, was also down 0.9%. Construction dropped 0.4% following a 0.7% decline in April as the increase in apartments and row houses was not enough to offset declines in single and semi-detached housing or improvements.
Manufacturing, however, posted a 0.1% increase as gains in non-durable manufacturing (up 0.7%) - led by home and personal, computer and electronics, agricultural and chemical products - offset declines in durable manufacturing (down 0.3%) including motor vehicle and associated parts production.
Service-producing industries were unchanged though a modest increase of 0.2% was expected. A drop in Wholesale (down 0.3%) as the volume of wholesaled building materials and automotive products led the stall followed by a drop in petroleum product wholesaling. In addition, there was a decline in the Finance sector (down 0.1%). The only significant increase was in Arts and Entertainment and Recreation which posted a 1.6% increase.