Canada posts 1.7% annual growth in fourth quarter of 2017 to finish year at 3%
OTTAWA — The Canadian economy expanded at an annual pace of 1.7 per cent in the final months of 2017 as the more rapid growth seen earlier in the year faded further away, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
The agency’s latest numbers for real gross domestic product showed the economy grew three per cent for all of 2017 — a much-stronger pace compared with 2016 when growth was 1.4 per cent.
Growth in the fourth quarter was driven by a 2.3 per cent increase in business investment compared with the third quarter, and a 0.5 per cent quarter-over-quarter rise in household spending, the report said.
Overall, the fourth-quarter came in higher than the third quarter, which was revised down to an annualized rate of 1.5 per cent from 1.7 per cent.