Canada's trade performance with the rest of the world worsened for the third consecutive month in June, providing fresh evidence of the global economic slowdown's impact on the country's key sector.
Statistics Canada said Thursday the merchandise trade deficit nearly doubled to $1.8 billion during June, from an upwardly revised $954 million in May.
It was the third consecutive report showing a widening gap and represented the worst monthly deficit in almost two years.
Although the bottom line was nearly twice economists' expectations, analysts noted the picture was not as dark as the bottom line suggests as the deficit was entirely on the import side, which saw a 2.3 per cent gain.
Exports were mildly positive, growing 0.2 per cent, and were even stronger in volume terms, rising 1.1 per cent, as soft oil prices cut into the return on shipments. However, all the gain came from one sector - autos - which stamped out a five-year best 13.9 per cent increase in June.
