The muted 0.1% m/m gain in real GDP in April, while in line with consensus expectations, is disappointing since it follows contractions in both February and March. Furthermore, the raging wildfires which forced the closure of a significant chunk of oil sands production for much of last month point to a big drop-off in GDP growth in May. The upshot is that even allowing for a rapid rebound in energy output in June, the economy would still contract by 1% annualised in the second quarter.
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