Canada's GDP tumbles in November

OTTAWA, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Widespread sector declines contributed to Canada's 0.7 percent drop in the gross domestic product index in November, Statistics Canada said Friday.

"The output of manufacturing, wholesale trade, construction and real estate agents and brokers were the main contributors to the November decrease," the agency said.

StatsCan said 18 of 21 major index groups saw declines, with a decrease in domestic and foreign demand driving down the wholesale sector's output by 3.1 percent.

"The transportation, energy, retail trade, finance and insurance sectors also retreated," the report said.

The home resale market dropped 12.8 percent from October, representing a 40 percent drop from the peak in the summer of 2007, the agency said.

A steep decline in the volume of trading on the stock exchanges led to the finance and insurance sector posting a 0.4 percent decline.

Among the few gains, the accommodation and food services sector nudged up 0.3 percent, benefiting from a small increase in the number of overnight visitors to Canada, the report said.