StatCan reports Canada enters technical recession in first quarter

Statistics Canada reports Friday that economic growth stalled in the first quarter, marking a second consecutive decline in the country’s GDP and meeting the definition of a technical recession.

The data states the first quarter and real GDP was slightly negative on an annualized basis.

The agency says they blame higher gold imports and a weak March in the resource sector for dragging down recent economic growth.

Statistics Canada says GDP declined last October and in March. But it reports growth as either flat or positive in the four months in between.

According to the agency, growth was essentially unchanged although small movements in quarterly figures appear larger when annualized.

Early estimates from Statistics Canada point to a sharp rebound in April, with real GDP expected to grow by 0.4 per cent as the mining, quarrying and oil and gas sectors recover.

With files from the Canadian Press

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