The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that new data from Statistics Canada suggest the economy was rebounding in the first few months of the year after a mild contraction to close 2025. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says Statscan reported Tuesday that real gross domestic product edged up 0.1 per cent in January, helped by strength in goods-producing industries, which expanded by 0.2 per cent. Looking ahead, the agency added that its preliminary estimate for February suggests the economy grew 0.2 per cent for the month, though it cautioned the figure would be revised. Statistics Canada's initial estimates for January published last month expected real GDP to be relatively flat. Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO, said the economy was "surprisingly okay" in the first few months of the year, though he stopped short of calling it healthy. "I'm not going to try to tell you the economy's strong, but it does look like we had moderate growth in the first quarter of the year, which, given a lot of the other indicators, is not a bad place to be," he said. The gain for January came as mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction grew 1.2 per cent in January. Manufacturing, however, contracted 1.4 per cent.