There is, as the old saying goes, more than one way to skin a cat. And it is equally true that there is more than one way to measure economic performance.
A good case in point centres around the latest GDP figures.
According to StatsCan, the most recent data show Canada has not met the test of two consecutive quarters of negative growth for being in recession. It did go down in the third quarter of last year but was back in positive territory in the fourth quarter.
Experts say a key factor in these calculations is population. Given our population growth, if you were to assess GDP performance on a per capita measure, Canada has actually been in recession for a year and half.
The economics team at RBC Royal Bank said the slight gain we saw in Q4 of last year – 1.0 per cent – was not enough to keep the per capital number out of the red for the six consecutive quarter. But it was also not weak enough to trigger a quick reduction in interest rates.
