The Canadian Press

The Canadian economy grew by 0.2% in October, as housing sales boomed in several parts of the country, to the benefit of real estate agents and brokers.

It was the second consecutive month of growth in Canadian real gross domestic product, with increased production in most sectors, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.

While the October GDP report is a further sign that the economy is slowly recovering from the major downturn that struck Canada and most other countries late in 2008 and early in 2009, the Statistics Canada report was below economists’ expectations of 0.3% growth.

BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter issued a commentary saying there were “no obvious major surprises” but noted that manufacturing output was flat, compared with expectations of 1.2% growth.

On the up side, Statistics Canada said activity by real estate agents and brokers rose 7.2% in a strong market for existing home sales.

Construction activity was up 0.1% with increased engineering and repair work as well as residential building construction.

Retail trade advanced 0.3%, driven largely by sales of new cars. Excluding those car sales, retail trade slipped 0.1%.

Wholesale trade volume advanced 0.2%, although there were declines in sales of food, beverage and tobacco products.

Cold weather in some areas produced higher demand for electricity and natural gas and a 2.4% increase in utilities.

Mining and oil and gas extraction decreased 0.4% in October, as both petroleum and natural gas extraction declined.

Mining itself grew by 0.1%, with greater output from coal and non-metallic mines.

Manufacturing output was unchanged in October after a 1% rise in September.

Fabricated metal products, paper products and primary metals grew, while production slipped in transportation equipment other than motor vehicles, chemicals and wood products.

The finance and insurance sector decreased 0.7%, with lower trading volume on the stock markets. The housing market did, however, produce an increase in residential mortgage loan activity.

Several tourism-related industries, notably air transportation, accommodation and food services, and arts and entertainment, showed increases.