Rosenberg Says Friday's GDP Data to Show Weak Economy in Canada

08:05 AM EST, 02/27/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Investors will receive Canada's Q4 and December gross domestic product data on Friday and they should confirm that the local economy, at best, is flattening out, said Rosenberg Research.

At the same time, the Bay Street view that everything is "okay"with the Canadian economy and surely nothing for the Bank of Canada to get too excited about, noted Rosenberg Research.

Yet, investors received the December data on payroll employment and they sank -35,400 -- the only positive being that November was less negative at -1,000 instead of the initially-reported -26,200 decline.

This marks the third falloff in the past four months, for a cumulative slide of roughly 50,000. The year-over-year trend, which had been running at +1.1% in December 2024, has now swung to a 0.2% loss, the first foray below the zero-line since February 2021, when investors weren't sure the COVID-19 pandemic would ever end, and the BoC was pinning the policy rate near the zero-bound.

Transportation services, trade (retail + wholesale), manufacturing, restaurants/hotels, real estate, and financials all posted declines. Basically, most of the sectors tied to the cyclical segment of the economy posted job contraction in the month.

Work-based incomes were little changed, and there has been no net movement in the workweek since last summer.

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