Canadian economy expands 0.2% in August in line with forecasts

The Canadian economy expanded for the third consecutive month in August, official figures showed on Tuesday. According to Statistics Canada, the economy grew 0.2% to $1.25 trillion month-over-month in August, following July's downwardly revised 0.4% growth. However, the August reading matched market expectations. On an annual basis, Canada's GDP increased 1.3%, also in line with projections. The 0.2% expansion was mainly driven by the mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction, utilities, manufacturing and construction sectors. Manufacturing output advanced 0.3% and 0.4% on a monthly and yearly basis, respectively, whereas construction rose 0.5% month-over-month but fell 3.4% year-over-year. The country's service sector output remained unchanged on a monthly basis, growing 2.2% in annual terms. The public sector posted a 0.1% monthly increase and jumped 2.3% compared with the same month of the previous year. Oil and gas extraction advanced 0.9%. Excluding oil and gas, mining rose 2.0% on a monthly basis amid a 14% rise in potash exports. The data is unlikely to cause forecasters to sharply reassess their policy expectations. After the release, the Loonie rose against the Greenback to C$1.3370 from 1.3380, also helped by higher oil prices.