C.D. Howe council says it is too soon to call Canada’s economy a recession

Canada’s C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council says recent data do not yet justify labeling the country’s slowdown a recession. The economists, who are often treated as Canada’s unofficial recession callmakers, said two straight quarters of GDP decline alone are not enough to make that judgment. The council said a recession should involve a more pronounced, persistent and widespread drop in economic activity across many sectors. It also noted that the latest decline may be revised later and is not as severe as past periods when the group has formally identified recessions. The discussion comes after Statistics Canada reported backtoback quarterly contraction, prompting debate in Ottawa over whether Canada is already in a technical recession. At the same time, the agency said the unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent in May, with the first notable job gain since November.