December and fourth quarter GDP from Statistics Canada:
- Prior +2.3% (quarterly GDP annualized) (revised to +2.4%)
- December GDP +0.2% m/m vs +0.1% m/m expected
- In November, GDP rose 0.3% m/m
- GDP +0.5% y/y vs 0.0% expected
- Prior y/y revised to +0.5% from +0.2%
Imports fell 8.9%, the most in six years, and that's one of the big reasons for the miss.
The idea is that the soft Canadian will stimulate exports but they fell 2.2% in the fourth decline in five quarters. Business investment fell 6.5%.
The Canadian dollar is unsurprisingly rallying on the numbers but below the headlines there isn't any good news here.