Canada's economy expands by 0.3% in October, beating expectations

Canada's economy grew by 0.3 per cent in October, better than economists had been expecting and reversing a 0.1 per cent contraction the previous month.

Statistics Canada reported Friday that most sectors of the economy expanded, by 0.3 for the month in both the goods-producing industries and the servicesector.

The only three subsectorsof the economy that the agency tracks andthat shrank were agriculture and forestry, construction, and transportation and warehousing. Manufacturing, retail, finance, oil and gas, and utilities all expanded.

"Not too shabby," Toronto-Dominion bank economist Brian DePratto said of the data."After a couple of months treading water, the Canadian economy recorded a solid expansion in October."

Economists had been expecting growth of 0.2 per cent for the month.

Despite the relatively strong showing, DePratto notes that the October number means the economy is on track to expand at a 1.7 per cent pace for the October-to-December period as a whole. That's less than the 2.3 per cent the Bank of Canada is currently forecasting, which suggests the case for more rate hikes to cool the economy is weakening.

"With the oil sector still facing elevated uncertainty due to low (and volatile) global prices, and core inflation measures well-contained, the urgency to hike interest rates has clearly lessened," he said.

The monthly figuremeans the economy has grown 2.2 per cent between October 2017 and October 2018, the strongest pace of growth since May.