PSAC strike helped keep Canada’s economy flat in April, but May

Canada’s gross domestic product was unchanged in April, the second monthly reading in a row of sluggish growth, but early data for May suggests things have started to pick up.

Statistics Canada reported Friday that goods-producing industries expanded by about 0.1 per cent in April, but that was offset by a flat reading out of the service sector. 

The reading was below the 0.2 per cent growth that economists were forecasting. Out of 20 sub-sectors of the economy, 11 grew while nine shrank in April.

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction was a source of strength, expanding by 1.2 per cent in the month.

Construction activity grew 0.4 per cent, as a slowdown in residential building…