Canada economy contracts by most in 6 years in first quarter

This prompted analysts to question whether the Bank of Canada's forecast for renewed momentum later in the year was overly optimistic. Gross domestic product shrank at an annualized 0.6 percent rate in the first three months of the year, Statistics Canada said on Friday, well below the 0.3 percent growth economists had forecast. It was also the first time Canada's economy has failed to expand since the second quarter of 2011, which saw zero growth.