Canadian economic growth slowed in October, as the country’s gross domestic product expanded by 0.2%. That was down from 1.1% in September.

The October figure was roughly in line with economists’ forecasts.

“Improved consumer confidence was responsible for much of the increase in economic activity in October,” Statistics Canada said.

“Continuing strong consumer demand and a hot housing market translated into higher activity levels for a number of industries,” the federal government agency said.

Retailers and wholesalers alike benefited from increased customer traffic. Retail sales gained 0.6% in October, with especially strong sales at grocery stores.

New home builders, real estate agents and brokers profited from the continuing housing boom. Boosted by low mortgage rates, new home construction grew 0.8% for the month.

An improved grain harvest resulted in a better year for farmers and those industries involved in the storage and distribution of grains.

On the downside, the energy sector flattened after two significant months of decline. Lower activity levels were reported for animal production and fishing. The finance sector was hit by fewer new bond offerings and lower business lending.

In a separate release, StatsCans said wholesale sales remained essentially unchanged in October (-0.1%), when wholesalers sold $36.6 billion worth of goods and services. This followed a strong 6.4% rebound in wholesale sales in September. August had been particularly weak because of the power blackout in Ontario.

Only 4 of the 11 wholesale trade sectors reported an increase in sales in October, with the largest gains registered by the computer and electronic equipment sector (+3.4%) and the “other products” category (+1.7%). Lumber and building materials (-3.7%) and industrial machinery (-1.0%) reported the largest declines.