First Quarter Canadian GDP fell 5.4%, the most since the recession of 1991 while beating expectations for a larger annualized loss of 6.5%. The monthly figure declined for the 8th month at 0.3%, inline with the Bloomberg consensus estimate. The quarterly change came in lower by 1.4%, following a drop of 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Looking deeper into the release, goods and manufacturing contracted at a greater pace than in February with a more than one percent fall while wholesale also came in worse with a 0.7% dip. Industrial production in February had narrowed to 0.5% but also fell by a larger degree at 1.3%. Recovery in the Canadian market will still hinge heavily on the US and the sharp declines seen in the first quarter are partially a reflection of poor data in the US.
