While the Canadian economy remains in a weak position, it seems to have recovered somewhat. After being affected by relatively sluggish domestic demand amid falling oil prices and a decline in investments in the energy sector, some improvements are becoming apparent. Exports improved for a third consecutive month in February, rising by 2.1% y-o-y, following a 7.3% y-o-y appreciation in January.
Consequently, industrial production also improved with the latest available data from January showing output rising by 1.0% y-o-y, after several months of decline. Positively, retail trade improved by 6.4% y-o-y in January, after a rise of 2.6% y-o-y in December. This positive development is also being reflected in the PMI for manufacturing, which, for the first time since mid-2015, moved above 50 to reach 51.1 in March. The GDP forecast for 2016 remains at 1.6%, clearly above the estimated GDP growth of 1.1% in 2015.