UNEXPECTED GDP STRENGTH MARKS FINAL MONTHS OF 2020

Canada's economy showed surprising strength in the final two months of 2020, even amid a new wave of COVID-19 restrictions. GDP expanded 0.7 per cent in November from a month earlier, Statistics Canada reported Friday, topping the 0.4-per-cent forecast of economists. A preliminary estimate from the agency showed GDP grew 0.3 per cent in December, defying expectations for a contraction. Friday's report is helping to ease concern about the costs from a second wave of lockdowns. Some analysts question if a first-quarter contraction, almost taken for granted, will even happen. Doug Porter, chief economist at Bank of Montreal, said he's raising his 2021 GDP forecast to 5 per cent, from 4.8 per cent, “as a direct result of this high-side surprise.”