Export surge boosts Canada’s economy
The Canadian economy expanded at a pace of 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2011, as exports roared back after a steep contraction in the previous three-month period, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. The report showed sales abroad surged by more than 14 per cent annualized, recovering from a second quarter marred by one-time setbacks such as the effects of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami on North American supply chains.
For exports, it was the best quarterly gain since 2004. Overall growth also got a boost from the energy sector, which had earlier been hit by wildfires in northern Alberta, and housing-related investment.
While the contraction in the second quarter was revised to 0.5 per cent from the initially reported 0.4 per cent, the third quarter exceeded the expectations of economists, and the results indicate some resiliency over the summer despite the debt dramas in Europe and the United States.
