Alberta wildfires knocked Canadian economy into reverse in May: StatCan

OTTAWA – The huge Alberta wildfires helped force the Canadian economy to contract by 0.6 per cent in May _ the country’s deepest one-month decline in more than seven years.

Statistics Canada’s latest reading for real gross domestic product revealed the extent of the economic damage caused by the blaze that roared through the heart of oilsands country.

The dip in the economy was larger than expected as economists had predicted real GDP to recoil in May by 0.4 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.

The fires led to the evacuation of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, shut down key oilsands operations and dimmed economic growth prospects for the second quarter.

Statistics Canada says the decline in real GDP for May was largely due to a 22-per-cent drop in non-conventional oil extraction _ but manufacturing output also fell in large part because of a 15 per cent decline at petroleum refineries.

The May real GDP reading follows a slim economic growth reading of 0.1 per cent in April and contractions of 0.2 per cent in March and 0.1 per cent in February.

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