Nearly half of the spending was on social protection and health
New car sales dropped by 3.7% as overall spending weakens
Cross-border auto trips fell 30.5% compared to the same month last year
Employee compensation increased across Canada, while GDP fell in two territories
U.S. government shutdown likely to hamper data collection for months
Job market, social fabric facing further stress from shuttered U.S. government
Canadians' average inflation-adjusted income declined 0.3%
Data are key to other important figures, it says
Retail sales were up in six of nine subsectors the agency monitors
Sales fell in 12 of the 21 subsectors: Statistics Canada