Canadian GDP declines in 1st Quarter. UMichigan/Reuters Consumer Sentiment Survey falls. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

May 30, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Canadian GDP declines in 1st Quarter. UMichigan/Reuters Consumer Sentiment Survey falls.

The Canadian Gross Domestic Product declined by 0.3 percent annualized rate in the first quarter of 2008 according to a report by Statistics Canada released today. The first quarter decline is the first quarterly decline in GDP since 2003 and follows the 0.8 percent annualized GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2007. Contributing to the first quarter decline was a fall in the exports of goods and services which decreased for a third straight quarter. Manufacturing services also showed significant declines in the first quarter with a 3.0 percent decrease. The first quarter's GDP decline was unexpected by market economists as forecasts as were expecting a 0.5 percent increase for the quarter.

UMichigan/Reuters Consumer Sentiment Survey drops in May.

The consumer sentiment survey conducted by the University of Michigan and Reuters fell to its lowest point in 28 years in May. The finalized consumer sentiment survey for May fell to a 59.8 score after a score of 62.6 in April in the report released today. The 59.8 survey score is the lowest reading registered by the survey since June of 1980 when the survey recorded a score of 58.7. Richard Curtin, Director of the Reuters/UMichigan Surveys of Consumers, stated in the report, "Consumers are painfully aware that their living standards are shrinking under the weight of higher food and fuel prices and see little hope for improvement any time soon." The low consumer confidence score was actually better than market forecasts which were expecting the score to register at 59.5. The report showed that the index of consumer expectations also fell for the month while inflation expectations increased to a level that is the highest in twenty years. The next Reuters/UMichigan survey is the June preliminary survey scheduled to be released on June 13th.

Tags: canada, GDP, gross domestic product, cad economy, umichigan reuters survey, consumer confidence

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