TORONTO - Ontario's economy shrunk in the first quarter of this year, dragged down in part by lower business investment and a continued drop in manufacturing.
New figures released by the Ontario government show the province's gross domestic product declined by two per cent in the period, following a 1.5 per cent decline in the fourth quarter.
The government says the contraction reflects the global economic downturn and a decline in exports.
There was also a decline in business investment -- a problem Ontario hopes to address in part by merging sales taxes to create a more favourable investment climate.
Production in the manufacturing sector, one of the hardest-hit by the recession, was down 8.6 per cent -- the eighth consecutive decline.
During the same time period, Canada's real GDP fell 1.4 per cent, the same as the U.S. economy.
