Real estate brokers among highlights for Canadian economy

There was growth in the Canadian economy in August, the latest figures released by Statistics Canada.

But real GDP only edged higher by 0.1% following an unchanged reading in July; on a 3-month rolling average basis, GDP was up 0.5% compared to 0.8% in July.

August did bring some good news including a rebound for manufacturing which gained 0.5% are essentially stagnating in July. The rise in manufacturing production was primarily due to increased sales, as the inventory-to-sales ratio declined in August according to the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing.

Real estate brokers and agents provided a 1.9% gain for the legal, accounting, and related services sector (up 0.8% overall) with housing activity up in most Canadian urban markets.

The finance and insurance sector also gained in August, rising 0.5% and marking a fourth consecutive month of increases.

Construction gained 0.3% as the residential sector added 0.6% following a decline in July. growth in single-unit and multi-unit dwellings more than offset a decline in home alterations and improvements.  Non-residential construction gained 0.2%, the eight time in nine months that this sector has seen increases in commercial, industrial, and public construction industries.

There was a 0.3% rise for the retail sector, which benefitted from the back-to-school spending spree having seen little increase since the end of 2018.

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