Oil Exports Help Canada Exit Two-Quarter GDP Slump, Economist Says

Canada has apparently moved past a two-quarter period of weak GDP performance, supported by a strong rebound in net trade that was partly driven by higher oil prices. According to Jin10, Robert Kavcic, an economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the improvement in net trade was helped by rising oil prices. Based on Statistics Canada’s May trade report, exports rose 0.9% and were up 26% year over year. Energy sales accounted for most of the increase. Despite weak volumes in May, Kavcic expected net trade to provide a meaningful boost to second-quarter growth, contributing as much as 2.0 percentage points.