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Gross domestic product by industry
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Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 0.5% in May, a faster rate of decline than in the previous three months. Over the last four months, the goods-producing industries have contributed the most to the decrease in real GDP, while the output of the service sector has remained essentially unchanged.
The energy and manufacturing sectors were the main contributors to May's decline. Construction and wholesale trade also decreased. Conversely, the activities of real estate agents and brokers as well as retail trade advanced in the month.
Energy sector output drops
The output of the energy sector dropped a further 2.3% in May. Oil and gas extraction as well as associated support activities posted significant declines. Both petroleum and natural gas production were hampered by falling export demand. Maintenance work at some crude petroleum facilities also lowered production. Natural gas storage increased in the month.
Elsewhere in the energy sector, electricity generation, the distribution of natural gas and pipeline transportation were all down for the month.
The output of the mining sector excluding oil and gas extraction decreased 0.9% in May, with both metal and non-metal ore mines retreating. Other non-metallic mineral mines (which include diamond mines) led the decline.
Manufacturing falls
The manufacturing sector continued to fall in May (-1.6%). About half of the decrease was due to a 21% drop in motor vehicle manufacturing, following three months of recovery, and an 8.2% decline in parts production. The temporary closure of two assembly plants, combined with the discontinuation of the production of a model line in Canada, contributed to this decline. Output was also down in primary metal, fabricated metal products, and machinery manufacturing. Overall, 16 of the 21 major groups retreated in the month. However, the manufacturing of chemicals and petroleum and coal products advanced.
Note to readers
The monthly gross domestic product (GDP) by industry data at basic prices are chained volume estimates with 2002 as their reference year. This means that the data for each industry and aggregate are obtained from a chained volume index multiplied by the industry's value added in 2002. For the 1997 to 2005 period, the monthly data are benchmarked to annually chained Fisher volume indexes of GDP obtained from the constant-price input-output tables.
For the period starting with January 2006, the data are derived by chaining a fixed-weight Laspeyres volume index to the prior period. The fixed weights are the industry output and input prices of 2005. This makes the monthly GDP by industry data more comparable with the expenditure-based GDP data, chained quarterly.
Revisions
With this release of monthly GDP by industry, revisions have been made back to January 2008. For more information about monthly GDP by industry, see the National Economic Accounts module on our website (www.statcan.gc.ca/nea-cen/index-eng.htm).
Construction down
Construction activity was down 0.7% in May. The declines in residential building construction (-2.4%) and engineering and repair work (-0.2%) outweighed the 0.9% increase in non-residential building construction.
For residential structures, both the construction of new dwellings as well as alteration and improvement work retreated. In contrast, all categories of non-residential buildings (industrial, commercial and institutional) rose.
Home resale market increases
The home resale market continued to show upward momentum in May, leading to an 8.2% increase in the output of real estate agents and brokers. The output of this industry returned to the level of May 2008.
Retail trade is up, while wholesaling activity is down
Value added in retail trade was up 0.6% in May as the volume of activities in all retail categories, excluding building and outdoor home supplies, rose. Notable increases were posted by new car dealers, furniture, home furnishings and home electronics, and food and beverage stores.
The volume of wholesaling activities decreased 0.4% in May. Declines were led by the wholesaling of food, beverage and tobacco products, grains and automotive products.
Finance and insurance essentially unchanged
The output of the finance and insurance sector was essentially unchanged in May. An increase in the activities of securities brokers was offset by declines in insurance services and credit intermediation (lending and banking activities).
Other industries
The weakness in some sectors of the economy led to a reduction in the output of truck and rail transportation services. Activities in the air transportation industry also declined in May, in parallel with a decline in the number of overnight travellers to Canada.
Available on CANSIM: table 379-0027.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 1301.
The May 2009 issue of Gross Domestic Product by Industry, Vol. 23, no. 5 (15-001-X, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website.
Data on gross domestic product by industry for June will be released on August 31.
For more information, or to order data, contact the dissemination agent (613-951-4623; toll-free 1-800-887-4623; iad-info-dci@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Bernard Lefrançois (613-951-3622), Industry Accounts Division.
Table 1
| December 2008r | January 2009r | February 2009r | March 2009r | April 2009r | May 2009p | May 2009 | May 2008 to May 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | ||||||||
| month-to-month % change | millions of dollars¹ | % change | ||||||
| All industries | -1.0 | -0.6 | -0.1 | -0.4 | -0.2 | -0.5 | 1,184,246 | -3.5 |
| Goods-producing industries | -2.0 | -1.7 | -0.6 | -1.4 | -0.8 | -1.6 | 329,195 | -9.9 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting | -0.4 | 0.5 | -0.7 | -0.7 | -0.1 | -1.1 | 25,309 | -2.8 |
| Mining and oil and gas extraction | -1.3 | -0.4 | -0.8 | -3.0 | -1.6 | -2.8 | 49,959 | -8.3 |
| Utilities | -0.4 | -0.1 | -0.9 | 1.0 | 0.7 | -0.7 | 30,431 | -2.0 |
| Construction | -2.1 | -1.5 | -0.1 | -0.4 | -0.0 | -0.7 | 71,469 | -4.8 |
| Manufacturing | -2.9 | -3.3 | -0.6 | -1.4 | -1.2 | -1.6 | 150,662 | -15.8 |
| Services-producing industries | -0.5 | -0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -0.0 | 859,229 | -0.6 |
| Wholesale trade | -2.5 | -2.8 | -0.3 | -0.7 | 0.3 | -0.4 | 62,831 | -11.8 |
| Retail trade | -3.0 | 1.3 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.5 | 0.6 | 73,131 | -2.5 |
| Transportation and warehousing | -1.3 | -1.0 | 0.3 | -0.6 | -0.1 | -1.0 | 54,161 | -5.0 |
| Information and cultural industries | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.2 | -0.1 | -0.3 | -0.1 | 45,167 | 0.3 |
| Finance, insurance and real estate | 0.1 | -0.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 252,166 | 2.4 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | -0.4 | -0.0 | -0.2 | -0.4 | -0.2 | -0.2 | 58,023 | -0.6 |
| Administrative and waste management services | -0.4 | -0.2 | -0.5 | -1.2 | -0.6 | -0.6 | 29,833 | -4.4 |
| Education services | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | -0.1 | -0.2 | 61,356 | 1.6 |
| Health care and social assistance | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 80,901 | 2.6 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | -0.3 | 0.9 | 0.5 | -1.0 | 0.8 | -2.9 | 11,596 | -2.6 |
| Accommodation and food services | -0.8 | -0.6 | 0.6 | -0.6 | -0.4 | -0.5 | 27,046 | -3.4 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 0.1 | -0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -0.2 | -0.1 | 32,811 | 1.2 |
| Public administration | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 70,433 | 1.9 |
| Other aggregations | ||||||||
| Industrial production | -2.0 | -1.9 | -0.7 | -1.7 | -1.1 | -1.9 | 233,551 | -11.8 |
| Non-durable manufacturing industries | -1.0 | -0.8 | -0.6 | -0.9 | -2.1 | 0.2 | 64,515 | -8.8 |
| Durable manufacturing industries | -4.2 | -5.3 | -0.6 | -1.8 | -0.5 | -3.1 | 85,930 | -20.8 |
| Business sector industries | -1.2 | -0.8 | -0.1 | -0.5 | -0.3 | -0.6 | 982,135 | -4.6 |
| Non-business sector industries | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -0.0 | 202,255 | 1.8 |
| Information and communication technologies industries | -0.0 | -0.6 | 0.1 | -0.4 | -0.0 | -0.3 | 57,916 | -1.7 |
| Energy sector | -1.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 | -2.2 | -1.2 | -2.3 | 77,169 | -5.8 |
