Worst factory output in nearly 3 years helps thrust economy into reverse
TORONTO — Canada’s economy unexpectedly shrank in October, weighed down by the worst manufacturing output in nearly three years, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Gross domestic product contracted by 0.3 per cent for the month, the first decline since wildfires devastated a swath of Fort McMurray, Alta., in May and dealt a severe blow to the province’s energy producers.
The oil and gas sector had a particularly weak performance in October, slipping 2.5 per cent after four monthly increases.
But even more remarkable was a two per cent decline in manufacturing — the biggest monthly drop since December 2013.