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Recession confirmed in Canada, economy shrinks for 2nd straight quarter

By Amy R. Connolly
Canadian Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivers opening remarks Saturday night in Vancouver to guests at the Canadian Iranian FoundationÕs 10th Annual Nowruz Gala in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 21. Tuesday, the federal government released data showing Canada's economy recoiled for the second consecutive quarter of 2015, putting the country squarely into the throws of a recession. Photo byHeinz Ruckemann/UPI
Canadian Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivers opening remarks Saturday night in Vancouver to guests at the Canadian Iranian FoundationÕs 10th Annual Nowruz Gala in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 21. Tuesday, the federal government released data showing Canada's economy recoiled for the second consecutive quarter of 2015, putting the country squarely into the throws of a recession. Photo byHeinz Ruckemann/UPI | License Photo

OTTAWA, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Canada's economy recoiled for the second consecutive quarter of 2015, putting the country squarely in the throws of a recession, experts said.

Statistics Canada, the country's data-collection arm, said the country's economy declined by 0.1 percent in the second quarter, despite a marginal expansion in June by 0.5 percent. The slight uptick wasn't enough to jump-start the sputtering economy, the federal agency said. The results, posted Tuesday, are the country's weakest since the 2008 global financial crisis.

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Despite the bad news, some economists see hope the economy may bounce back quickly with the slight growth in June. At the same time, the grim numbers don't bode well for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, just weeks before the election.

On the campaign trail, he has sidestepped questions about the recession and declined to define the word.

"I think it's more important to describe the reality of the situation rather than to have labels," said Harper, whose Conservative party has pinned its re-election hopes on its economic record.

The recession adds to escalating fears about the overall global economy, with world stock markets plunging today in light of China's economic slowdown.

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