<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Canada\u2019s services economy stayed in contraction territory in December, as mounting trade uncertainty continued to pressure employment and client activity, according to S&P Global\u2019s latest services PMI released Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Business Activity Index rose to 46.5<\/strong> from 44.3 in November<\/strong>, marking a modest improvement but remaining well below the 50-point threshold<\/strong> that separates expansion from contraction. With the exception of October, the index has been below 50 every month since December 2024<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trade tensions were a key drag on activity. Negotiations on new sector-specific trade arrangements between the U.S. and Canada<\/strong> have stalled, while the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)<\/strong> \u2014 which shields a large share of Canadian exports from U.S. tariffs \u2014 is due for joint review this year, adding to uncertainty for firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employment conditions also remained weak. The employment index rose slightly to 47.7<\/strong> from 47.1<\/strong> in November, while new business<\/strong> recorded its 13th consecutive month of contraction<\/strong>, signalling persistent demand softness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some companies expressed optimism that large-scale events \u2014 including the FIFA World Cup 2026<\/strong>, which will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19<\/strong> \u2014 could support future growth. However, S&P Global noted that overall sentiment remains well below historical averages<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Broader economic weakness was also evident across sectors. The S&P Global Canada Composite PMI Output Index<\/strong> rose to 46.7<\/strong> in December from 44.9<\/strong> the prior month, while separate data on Friday showed the manufacturing sector contracted for an 11th straight month<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The continued downturn suggests that Canada\u2019s private-sector economy is still facing significant headwinds heading into 2026, particularly from trade-policy uncertainty and subdued domestic demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Canada\u2019s services economy stayed in contraction territory in December, as mounting trade uncertainty continued to pressure employment and client activity, according to S&P Global\u2019s latest services PMI released Tuesday. The Business Activity Index rose to 46.5 from 44.3 in November, marking a modest improvement but remaining well below the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":30908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6827,49,37,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-forex-markets","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122321,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122320\/revisions\/122321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}