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Gross domestic product by industry

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January 2010 (Previous release)

Real gross domestic product advanced 0.6% in January, a fifth consecutive monthly increase. Goods-producing industries increased 1.3%, largely on the strength of manufacturing and construction. Mining and oil and gas extraction also increased in January. The production of services advanced 0.4%, led by wholesale trade. Retail trade, the finance and insurance sector, transportation and the public sector also rose. Conversely, the output of real estate agents and brokers, some tourism-related industries as well as agriculture and forestry retreated.

Real gross domestic product advances for a fifth consecutive month

Manufacturing continues to increase

After a 1.2% advance in December, manufacturing increased 1.9% in January, with 17 of the 21 major groups advancing. Notable increases were recorded by manufacturers of fabricated and primary metal products, chemicals, plastics and rubber products. In contrast, motor vehicle production fell 2.4%.

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 2006 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 2007, 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 2006. 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 2009. 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).

Manufacturing sector increases significantly with widespread gains

Widespread advances in wholesale trade

The volume of wholesaling activity increased 2.9% in January. All wholesaling trade groups posted gains, with the exception of apparel and alcohol and tobacco. The most notable increases were in motor vehicles, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals and food products.

Residential construction strengthens

The construction sector advanced 1.7% in January. The increases recorded in residential construction (+4.0%) and in engineering and repair work (+1.0%) overshadowed the 0.5% decrease in non-residential building construction. In residential construction, there were increases in all types of structures except apartments, with alterations and improvements work leading the advance.

Mining and oil and gas extraction moves ahead

Mining and oil and gas extraction increased 0.9% in January. Oil and gas extraction rebounded 0.5%, with the production of natural gas increasing and that of oil receding. The mining sector excluding oil and gas advanced 2.3%, with increases at potash and gold and silver ore mines. Foreign demand for these products increased in January. Support activities for mining and oil and gas extraction also were up in January (+1.2%).

The finance and insurance sector increases

The finance and insurance sector advanced 0.6%. This gain was largely attributable to an increase in the volume of trading on the stock exchanges.

Retail trade up

Value added in the retail trade sector rose 0.8% in January. Significant increases were registered in building and outdoor home supplies stores, home furnishings stores as well as food and beverage stores. Conversely, decreases were recorded at new and used car dealers and at gasoline stations. Retail trade excluding new car dealers advanced 1.3%.

Main industrial sectors' contribution to the percent change in gross domestic product

Activity of real estate agents and brokers retreats

Sales of existing homes fell significantly in several parts of the country, resulting in a 6.7% decrease in the output of real estate agents and brokers. Despite this decline, the level of output of this industry remained close to its May 2007 peak.

Other industries

After an increase in December, several tourism-related industries declined in January, mirroring the decline in the number of overnight travellers to Canada. Railway operators benefited from the higher production of goods. The public sector (health, education and public administration combined) increased slightly.

Available on CANSIM: table 379-0027.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 1301.

The January 2010 issue of Gross Domestic Product by Industry, Vol. 24, no. 1 (15-001-X, free), is now available from the Key resource module of our website under Publications.

Data on gross domestic product by industry for February will be released on April 30.

For more information, or to order data, contact the dissemination agent (toll-free 1-800-887-4623; 613-951-4623; 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

Monthly gross domestic product by industry at basic prices in chained (2002) dollars
  August 2009r September 2009r October 2009r November 2009r December 2009r January 2010p January 2010 January 2009 to January 2010
  Seasonally adjusted
  month-to-month % change $ millions¹ % change
All Industries -0.1  0.5  0.3  0.5  0.5  0.6  1,216,976 1.3 
Goods-producing industries -0.6  1.3  0.5  1.1  0.5  1.3  337,175 -1.4 
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting -2.0 0.3 0.8 1.4 0.2 -0.8 24,586 -6.7
Mining and oil and gas extraction -2.3 3.1 0.4 1.7 -0.9 0.9 51,096 -7.1
Utilities 1.9 -0.3 2.3 -1.5 1.9 0.1 29,990 -1.0
Construction 0.6 0.3 0.7 1.6 0.4 1.7 72,128 1.6
Manufacturing -0.3 1.2 0.1 0.9 1.2 1.9 156,948 1.7
Services-producing industries 0.2  0.2  0.2  0.3  0.5  0.4  883,958 2.5 
Wholesale trade -0.4 0.3 0.5 2.4 1.7 2.9 71,388 10.1
Retail trade 0.6 1.1 0.3 -1.0 0.9 0.8 76,052 3.7
Transportation and warehousing 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.5 1.2 0.7 57,566 3.1
Information and cultural industries -0.2 -0.3 0.1 -0.1 0.2 0.4 45,534 -2.3
Finance, insurance and real estate 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.0 256,912 4.2
Professional, scientific and technical services 0.0 -0.3 -0.0 -0.1 0.2 0.0 60,316 -1.4
Administrative and waste management services -0.3 -0.4 0.1 -0.2 0.3 -0.3 29,511 -4.9
Education services 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 61,872 1.8
Health care and social assistance 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.3 -0.0 82,005 2.0
Arts, entertainment and recreation -0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.0 11,169 -0.8
Accommodation and food services 0.6 -0.6 0.4 -0.2 0.6 -0.4 26,676 -0.7
Other services (except public administration) -0.1 -0.1 -0.1 -0.1 0.3 -0.1 32,075 -1.1
Public administration 0.7 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 73,265 2.5
Other aggregations                
Industrial production -0.8 1.7 0.5 0.9 0.5 1.3 240,257 -1.9
Non-durable manufacturing industries -0.6 1.3 -0.0 0.8 0.5 1.7 64,816 0.6
Durable manufacturing industries -0.1 1.1 0.3 1.0 1.7 2.1 92,031 2.6
Business sector industries -0.1 0.6 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.7 1,010,668 1.2
Non-business sector industries 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 206,364 1.9
Information and communication technologies industries 0.3 -0.6 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.6 59,181 0.0
Energy sector -1.3 1.7 0.9 0.6 -0.3 0.7 79,714 -3.7
revised
preliminary
Millions of chained (2002) dollars, seasonally adjusted at annual rates.