The national economy performed better than previously expected as it advanced for the sixth straight month in July.

Real GDP (seasonally-adjusted at an annual rate) grew by 0.1% from the month prior and stood 4.3% higher from last July.

The monthly increase came mainly on the back of non-conventional oil extraction (+5.1%), with daily oil sands production jumping to an eight-month high in July. Meanwhile, crop and animal sector GDP (+4.0%) posted its largest increase since December 2021 and offset a 0.1% contraction in the services sector.

Real output was up by 4.4% over the first seven months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

Although the monthly advances have tempered of late, year-to-date (YTD) gains in the services sector continue to overshadow goods-producing industries. For example, accommodation and food services (+34.6% YTD) and professional, scientific and technical services (+7.8% YTD) together provided a bigger boost to the aggregate increase than the entire goods-producing sector (+3.4% YTD).

With rising interest rates and inflation still elevated, we expect national economic growth to soften in future months. However, a resilient energy sector and the boost in activity from solid migration levels should offset some of this weakness.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Baseball’s Reggie Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason.

Today’s trivia question: In what year did the October Revolution take place?