Canada posted the fourth highest trade deficit on record in November as shipments to Europe fell, suggesting the country’s economy is struggling to emerge from an export-driven slump. Canada recorded a C$1.96 billion ($2 billion) trade deficit in November, up from a revised C$552 million gap in October, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The shortfall was wider than all 21 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists that had a median estimate of a C$600 million deficit. Exports to the European Union fell 19.4 percent, led by metals. Growth in the world’s 11th largest economy slowed to a 0.6 percent annual pace in the third quarter as exports fell the fastest since the end of the 2009 recession. The Bank of Canada has said the export rebound is the weakest since World War II. The report marks the first deterioration of the trade balance in four months. Exports fell 0.9 percent in November to C$37.5 billion, led by a drop in shipments of crops such as canola and precious metals. Energy exports fell 1.2 percent. The value of goods shipped to European Union countries fell to C$2.85 billion, or 7.6 percent of Canada’s total exports. That’s down from 9.3 percent a month earlier. Eight of the 12 major export components tracked by Statistics Canada recorded year-over-year declines in November. Imports rose 2.7 percent to C$39.5 billion in November, led by motor vehicles and aircraft-related shipments. The volume of exports, which exclude price changes, increased 0.4 percent while import volumes increased 2.2 percent. Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. rose to C$3.34 billion in November from C$2.69 billion a month earlier as exports rose 3.9 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net

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