{"id":391983,"date":"2026-01-06T15:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T15:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/391983\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T15:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T15:38:16","slug":"canadas-services-sector-contracted-further-in-december-data-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/391983\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s services sector contracted further in December, data show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canada\u2019s services economy<\/a> remained in contraction in \u200bDecember as trade uncertainty weighed on \u200demployment and client spending, S&P Global\u2019s Canada services PMI data showed on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The headline Business Activity Index rose to 46.5 last \u200dmonth from \u200b44.3 in November, but remained below the 50 no-change mark. With the exception of October, the index has posted a reading below 50 each month since December, 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada\u2019s services economy struggled again in December \u2060amid ongoing reports by service providers of a challenging market environment, characterized by ongoing uncertainty and a reluctance to spend amongst clients,\u201d Paul Smith, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

John Rapley: Beware the rosy 2026 economic forecasts, for pride comes before a fall<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cLatest data \u200crounded off a difficult \u200dyear overall as the spillover impact on confidence and \u200dactivity from tariffs and trade<\/a> policies weighed heavily \u200con the economy,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThis has recently led \u2060to an increasingly soft labor market, with December data showing a fourth \u200bsuccessive monthly cut in employment as firms sought to maintain lean operations in the face of the testing business climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talks have broken down on a trade deal in key sectors between the U.S. and Canada, while \u200bthe United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has shielded much of Canada\u2019s exports from U.S. tariffs<\/a>, is up for joint review this year.<\/p>\n

The employment index was at 47.7, up from 47.1 in November, while the new business measure posted its 13th straight month of contraction.<\/p>\n

Some firms were hopeful \u2060that coming sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup would support \u2060growth in 2026 but sentiment remained well below its historical trend, S&P Global \u200csaid.<\/p>\n

They will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.<\/p>\n

The S&P Global Canada Composite PMI Output Index rose to 46.7 last month from 44.9 in November. Data on Friday showed that Canada\u2019s manufacturing \u200csector contracted in December for an 11th straight month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s services economy remained in contraction in \u200bDecember as trade uncertainty weighed on \u200demployment and client spending, S&P…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-391983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}