OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada’s economy expanded for a ninth consecutive month in January, growing 0.7% on gains in both goods and services, and it most likely expanded 0.5% in February as restrictions to curb COVID-19 were lifted, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted that gross domestic product would grow 0.5% from December.
However, total economic activity remained about 3% below the February 2020 pre-pandemic level, Statscan said.
The Canadian dollar strengthened to 1.2595 ($0.7940) against the U.S. dollar after the data was released.
The Bank of Canada, which forecast in January that the economy would shrink in the first quarter on an annualized basis, now says it expects positive growth.
It is due to release updated forecasts on April 21.
(Reporting by Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Bernadette Baum)
