Natural gas powers current account surplus to record; workers’ earnings stall

TORONTO (CP) – Natural gas exports to the United States – the defining factor in Canada’s economic statistics – continue to inflate the country’s current account surplus to quarterly and annual records.

But Canadian employees worked for less money in December, according to another set of Statistics Canada data released Monday. And while the livestock industry regained health in 2005, grain and oilseed farmers suffered a 13 per cent decline in sales.

The federal agency said the surplus in the national current account – trade in goods and services plus investment income and current transfers – totalled $30.2 billion in 2005.

“Energy is overwhelmingly the biggest part of this story,” commented BMO Nesbitt Burns economist Douglas Porter.

The Canadian Press