Manufacturing posted its weakest month since June of 2020, dragging economic growth to a halt, Statistics Canada reported. Early data suggest gross domestic product contracted 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, and increased 1.3 per cent in 2025. (The Logic)

Talking point: Output by industry dropped 0.3 per cent in October, to $2.3 trillion, and stayed there in November. The weakness is primarily in durable-goods manufacturing, which has dropped to levels last seen in mid-2011, excluding the worst months of the pandemic. Tariffs are the main headwind, but in November, automobiles and auto parts plunged 6.4 per cent because “a major assembly plant” was left without semiconductors amid a global shortage, Statistics Canada said. Services are a bigger part of the economy and continue to grow, led most recently by retail and education. They will remain the primary economic drivers until trade uncertainty clears.

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