Canada: Real GDP expands by 0.4% in February vs. 0.5% expected

• Canadian economy grew at a softer pace than expected in February.
• USD/CAD stays relatively quiet around 1.2270 after the data.

Canada’s Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded at a monthly rate of 0.4% in February, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Wednesday. This reading came in slightly weaker than the market expectation for a growth of 0.5%.

“This 10th consecutive monthly increase continued to offset the steepest drops on record in Canadian economic activity observed in March and April 2020,” the publication read. “However, total economic activity was about 2% below the level observed in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Market reaction

The USD/CAD pair paid little to no attention to the GDP report and was last seen posting small daily losses at 1.2274.