OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s growth in April plunged by a record 11% from March as large sections of the economy were shut down to fight the coronavirus outbreak, Statistics Canada said in a flash estimate on Friday.
Statscan said gross domestic product in March fell by 7.2% from February, the most severe month-on-month plunge ever, while annualized growth for the first quarter sank by 8.2% – the greatest since the depths of the great recession.
“The March and April decreases are likely to be the largest consecutive monthly declines on record,” Statscan said in a commentary.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a decline of 10% in the quarterly data and a 9% drop in the monthly figure.
Household spending in the first quarter dropped by 2.3%, the steepest fall on record.
“Spending reductions were influenced by substantial job losses, income uncertainty, and limited opportunities to spend because of the mandatory closure of non-essential retail stores, restaurants and services, and restrictions on travel and tourism activities,” Statscan said.
Graphic: Canada economic snapshot – http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/CANADA-ECONOMY/0100304B09G/index.html
(Reporting by Kelsey Johnson and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
