Canada GDP Falls 0.1% in August

The Canadian economy shrank in August, the first monthly decline since October of last year, on a slump in manufacturing and lower energy production.

The surprise result underscores the belief that the economy slowed markedly after a remarkable performance in the first half of the year, and could keep the Bank of Canada on hold with rate policy for the immediate future.

The level of Canada's gross domestic product, or the broadest measure of goods and services produced in an economy, fell in August 0.1% to 1.74 trillion Canadian dollars ($1.36 trillion), Statistics Canada said Tuesday. Market expectations were for GDP growth of 0.1%, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada.

On a one-year basis, Canadian economic output climbed by a respectable 3.5%.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 31, 2017 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)