GDP edged down

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The Canadian economy slipped in April, hurt by weakness in the mining and energy sectors, to post the fourth consecutive monthly decline.

Statistics Canada said Tuesday that the country's real gross domestic product edged down 0.1 per cent for the month.

Economists had expected the country's real gross domestic product to gain 0.1 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.

The pullback for April follows a first quarter that saw the economy contract at an annual pace of 0.6 per cent.

"The oil shock continues to reverberate through the Canadian economy, in all its various forms. GDP came stumbling out of the gate in 2015 with four consecutive monthly declines, suggesting it will need some solid gains in the next few months just to keep it out of the red for the entire first half of the year," Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter wrote in a report.

"This latest growth disappointment — along with the rumbling uncertainty surrounding Greece — has simply cranked up the odds of another Bank of Canada rate cut at some point this year, and heaped renewed downward pressure on the Canadian dollar."

Statistics Canada said a decrease in the output of goods-producing industries outweighed an increase by the service sector.

Weakness in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sectors led to the goods production group to drop 0.8 per cent in April.

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction contracted 2.6 per cent in April, down for a sixth consecutive month.

Service-providing industries grew 0.3 per cent in April, helped by wholesale trade.