GDP was largely flat for a second consecutive month in August, falling short of expectations for a 0.2% increase…

… as growth in goods-producing industries was offset by weakness in services. At the sector level, results were mixed…

… with contractions in wholesale trade and public administration weighing on strength in retail trade and manufacturing.

The pickup in retail was broad-based, with all categories up outside of fuel…

… while the opposite was true in wholesale, with the auto and food/beverage subsectors driving over half of the overall dollar decline…

.. which looks set to reverse in September, but not enough to pull the headline number into positive territory - with early estimates calling for a 0.1% GDP decline. That translates to Q3 growth of 0.3% or 1.2% annualized, below the BoC’s 2% estimate.

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