Canadian GDP jumped 1.1% in February, marking the highest monthly growth rate since March 2021.
This is the ninth month of the consecutive monthly increase in the country.
The increase is observed both in industries producing services (+ 0.9%) and in production of goods (+1.5%).
“Industries that interact directly with the public saw the largest increases as a result of the continued reopening of activities and the easing of restrictions imposed after the discovery of the Omicron variant,” Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Thus, Canada’s real GDP grew 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022, according to advance information from the federal agency.
“Canada is back! With the lifting of containment measures triggered by the Omicron variant in February, Canadians stopped searching for deals online and instead returned to bars and restaurants,” said Randall Bartlett, senior director of Canadian economics at Desjardins.
Accommodation and food services have particularly benefited from the easing of sanitary measures in the governorates. Thus, a jump of 15.1% was recorded in February, which made it possible to compensate for the decreases observed in the past two months.
The arts, entertainment and recreation sector also rebounded by 8.4%.
Construction rose 2.7% in February, for the second month in a row.
Wholesale trade, however, posted a 1.1% decline after six months of increases.
“Overall, February’s real GDP was a very positive result for Canada, and March also looks to be respectable,” the analyst said.
According to advance information, real GDP is expected to rise by 0.5% for the month of March 2022.
