Statistics Canada has confirmed what many analysts had suspected that Canada suffered from recession in the first six months of 2015.
The decline in growth was widespread with manufacturing , business fixed capital investment and new housing construction as well as mineral exploration and the oil sands (down 5.7 %) all showing negative results.
As well as revealing a second consecutive quarter of negative growth Stats Canada revised downward the first quarter results to a larger decline of 0.8 %. The decline in the second quarter is minus 0.5 % This compares to a growth rate of 3.7% in the U.S. during the same period. The only bright spot in the data releases comes from the monthly GDP data which shows that after five straight months of negative growth in June the results were positive up o.5 % month over month. The data should add fuel to the election debate over economic policy. Mr.Harper will want to run on emerging from recession and the June results. But the other parties will focus on the recession we have suffered and ask legitimate questions about how it could have been avoided with better policy.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About haroldchorneyeconomist
I am Professor of political economy at Concordia university in Montréal, Québec, Canada. I received my B.A.Hons (econ.&poli sci) from the University of Manitoba. I also completed my M.A. degree in economics there. Went on to spend two years at the London School of Economics as a Ph.D. student in economics and then completed my Ph.D. in political economy at the University of Toronto. Was named a John W.Dafoe fellow, a CMHC fellow and a Canada Council fellow. I also was named a Woodrow Wilson fellow in 1968 after completing my first class honours undergraduate degree. Worked as an economist in the area of education, labour economics and as the senior economist with the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation for the Government of Manitoba from 1972 to 1978. I also have worked as an economic consultant for MDT socio-economic consultants and have been consulted on urban planning, health policy, linguistic duality and public sector finance questions by the governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan,the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, Ontario and the Federal government of Canada. I have also been consulted by senior leaders of the British Labour party, MPs from the Progressive Conservative party, the Liberal party and the New Democrats on economic policy questions. Members of the Government of France under the Presidency of Francois Mitterand discussed my work on public sector deficits. I have also run for elected office at the municipal level. I first began to write about quantitative easing as a useful policy option during the early 1980s.
haroldchorneyeconomist 