OTTAWA - The Canadian economy grew 0.4 per cent in November from October, slightly more than expected, pushed up in part by a rebound in manufacturing, Statistics Canada data indicated on Tuesday.

The increase, the fifth in the past six months, was greater than the 0.3 per cent advance forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. Statscan revised its October data to show a contraction of 0.2 per cent, less than the previously reported 0.3 per cent drop.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to a two-week peak against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, supported by the data.

“I think [Bank of Canada] Governor [Stephen] Poloz will be breathing a sigh of relief, given that this number points the fourth quarter to slightly above [the Bank’s] 1.5 per cent forecast … lessening the chance of a rate cut that he’s still threatening,” said CIBC Capital Markets Economist Nick Exarhos in an interview with BNN.

Manufacturing activity grew 1.4 per cent after a 1.7 per cent drop in October, pushed up by higher output of petroleum and coal products, food, machinery, computer and electronic products.

While U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies have put his country’s trading partners on notice, Exarhos reckons Canadian factories aren’t facing an immediate risk.

“I don’t think that Canada is in the crosshairs just yet in terms of limiting our access to the U.S. market,” he said.

Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction expanded 1.4 per cent while finance and insurance jumped 1.5 per cent, the largest increase since December 2014.

“This [November GDP] is an important figure insofar as it tells us that Canada is indeed in the process of recovering from the oil shock that ravaged the Canadian economy in 2015 and 2016,” Exarhos said in his interview with BNN.

- with files from BNN.ca