Economy posts worst showing since 2009

Weak exports and the Alberta wildfires hammered the Canadian economy as it posted its worst quarterly performance since the global financial crisis, but the three-month period ended on a positive note with growth in June.

Statistics Canada said real gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 1.6 per cent during the second quarter, the most since the second quarter of 2009.

But real GDP rose 0.6 per cent in June _ better than the 0.4 per cent expected by economists _ as production in the oilsands started to resume.

“Hopefully the June number gives a fairly good hand-off to the third quarter and we can put the wildfires and the impact in the rear-view mirror,’’ HSBC Canada chief economist David Watt said.

The second-quarter contraction compared with growth at an annual pace of 2.5 per cent in the first quarter, which was revised from an initial reading of 2.4 per cent.

Watt said the Canadian trade figures over the coming months will be key.

“I’m going to be paying very close attention to the numbers of the next couple of months and sort of questioning where’s the export demand going to come from and is it going to offset what I fear will be a weaker trend for spending by households,’’ he said.

Statistics Canada will release July trade figures on Friday.