Canada GDP Growth Decelerates in 3Q to 1.7%

After an extraordinary 12-month run, the Canadian economy slowed markedly in the third quarter as work stoppages and maintenance work at auto-assembly plants led to a decline in exports.

Canada's gross domestic product, or the broadest measure of goods and services produced in an economy, rose at a 1.7% annualized rate in the third quarter to 1.85 trillion Canadian dollars ($1.44 trillion), Statistics Canada said Friday. Market expectations were for a 1.6% annualized gain.

That marks a moderation in expansion from the second quarter, after GDP increased 4.3% versus an earlier estimate of 4.5%.

A moderation in growth was widely expected. Canadian exports plunged in the July-to-September period, down 2.7% on a nonannualized basis, due mostly to issues at automobile factories that closed for retooling or a labor strike, as was the case at General Motors Co.'s factory in Ingersoll, Ont. The last time exports fell this much was in the first quarter of last year, due at the time to the swoon in energy prices.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2017 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)