Data released on Wednesday showed the real GDP in Canada expanded at a rate of 0.7% in January. Analysts at the National Bank of Canada point out that the highly uneven economic recovery extended into January. They expect growth to remain strong for the remainder of the year. 

Key Quotes:

“While the monthly figure was solid, the economic recovery remains uneven. Several sectors have already exceeded their pre-pandemic peaks – agriculture/forestry/fishing and hunting (+10.7% compared with February 2020), finance/insurance (+4.8%), wholesale (+4.0%), real estate (+3.2%) – while others continue to lag and have even worsened given rising Covid-19 caseloads in some regions.”

“Encouragingly, the economic rebound is likely to have extended into February; Statistics Canada advance estimate suggests production expanded another 0.5% in the month.”

“Looking further ahead, with the release of certain lockdown measures to control the spread of COVID-19 and the constant rollout of vaccines, we think growth should remain strong for the remainder of the year, supported by rebounds in the industries most affected by the pandemic.”