Seemingly weathering the storm somewhat better than its global counterparts, Canada was on firm footing going into a second inflicted with a financial crisis and economic slowdown across most of the industrialized world. According to Statistics Canada, growth over the month of July rose 0.7 percent - the sharpest improvement since March of 2004. Looking at the breakdown however, there is still reason to be cautious on the outlook. The primary, positive components of the overall improvement were energy production and mining - sectors that have been hard hit by the drop in prices through more recent months and an area where forecasts demand has certainly flagged as the global economy slows. Taking the tally, energy production rose 3.1 percent while mining jumped 4.2 percent. Elsewhere, goods production grew 1.7 percent with manufacturing leading the way on a 1.3 percent rise (construction activity stalled). Services, on the other hand, grew only modestly at a 0.3 percent clip with retail stalling and financial activity actually higher (a condition that will certainly change with time). Altogether, we can see these numbers are strong, but ultimately dated as global trends have shifted through August and September. Traders have realized this too, and the Canadian dollar’s reaction was stunted in response.