Statistics Canada announced on Thursday that Canada’s merchandise trade deficit stood at CAD3.34 billion in November, narrowing from a revised CAD3.73-billion gap in October (originally a CAD3.76-billion shortfall). This was the lowest trade gap since August.

Economists had forecast a deficit of CAD3.50 billion.

According to the report, Canada’s exports grew by 0.5 percent m-o-m to CAD46.76 billion in November, mainly driven by higher exports of gold. Meanwhile, imports decreased by 0.3 percent m-o-m to CAD50.10 billion in November, primarily due to lower imports of industrial machinery, equipment and parts (-3.9 percent m-o-m).