Canada Posts Trade Surplus

Canada sold $923 million more worth of goods and services to the world than it bought in return in December, new numbers from Statistics Canada showed Tuesday, CBC reported. Canada’s trade surplus came in at $923 million for the month, as exports were up 0.8% on the strength of higher energy prices. “Imports increased 1%, mainly on stronger imports of aircraft and industrial machinery,” the data agency said. In volume terms, exports actually decreased by 1.4%. But higher oil prices made up for that and pushed the overall account into surplus territory. Coming on the heels of another trade surplus in November, “That’s back-to-back surpluses totaling just under $2 billion, the most in nearly three years,” Bank of Montreal economist Jennifer Lee said. Canada sold $8.5 billion worth of energy products to the world in December, the highest monthly figure since November 2014. For the year as a whole, Canadian exports declined by 0.7% to $521.1 billion.