Canada's economy was down at the end of 2022, growing at a pace of half the pace of the previous quarter and setting the stage for a stall at the beginning of the year.
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You can see other videos from our team by tapping here. In December, gross domestic product was flat, as increases in retail, utilities and the public sector in December were offset by decreases in wholesale, finance and oil and gas industries, according to Statistics Canada in Ottawa. It followed a 0.1 per cent increase in November, which matched the expectations of the economists in a Bloomberg survey, and a 0.1 per cent increase in October.
According to an estimate from the statistics agency, the monthly gains point to annualized growth in the fourth quarter of 1.6 per cent. It will likely be revised, but it is down sharply from a 2.9 per cent pace in the third quarter, 3.2 per cent in April to June and 2.8 per cent in the first three months of last year.
The numbers show that higher interest rates have jumped 425 basis points since March, slowing economic activity and weighing on consumption. The Bank of Canada s aggressive tightening campaign is expected to drag growth to a halt this year, with economists expecting to see two quarters of shallow contraction in the first half of 2023. That is one of the reasons why Governor Tiff Macklem and his officials said this month they will hold the benchmark overnight lending rate at 4.5 per cent if growth and inflation continue to be in line with their outlook. The final quarter's growth was slightly stronger than predicted by policymakers last week, but signs of a slowing of demand are mounting.