Trade Surplus Expands in January

Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world expanded by about $1 billion in January as exports increased at their fastest pace in more than a year.

Canadian companies exported $38 billion worth of merchandise, a 3.6% increase from December after a downward trend that persisted through most of 2007. Export prices rose 4.2% in constant dollars, while volumes edged down 0.6% in January.

At the same time, the value of merchandise imports rose one per cent to $34.7 billion, the third straight increase. Prices climbed 1.7%, while volumes slipped 0.7%.

As a result, the trade surplus with the world rebounded from a revised $2.3 billion in December, the lowest since November 1998, to $3.3 billion. Summary data, and a link to the report, are on the Statistics Canada website.

Economists welcomed a January improvement in Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the rest of the world, but cautioned that the report's strong results were skewed by rising energy prices. Click here for the complete article.