Canadian economy sees growth of 6.1% in Q1

Statistics Canada announced today that the Canadian economy expanded by an annualised 6.1% in the first three months of 2010.

The figure was slightly better than the 6% analysts had expected and comes after a 4.9% expansion in the final three months of 2009.

The growth has led economists to believe that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates at its meeting tomorrow, thereby becoming the first G7 central bank to raise rates since the onset of the recession.

Consumer spending has been the main driver in the recovery of Canada’s recession. However, the recession was not quite as severe as many of its counterparts throughout the world.

The economy, which is the world’s tenth largest, is dominated by the service industry (which employs approximately 75% of Canadians).

In related news, the economy added a record 108,700 jobs in April - more than four times expected by analysts.

The figures pushed the unemployment rate down to 8.1%, from 8.2% in March.

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