The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that the Canadian manufacturing sector in April saw its largest decline in four years and the broader economy is heading toward a contraction in the second quarter as U.S. tariffs curb activity in export-driven industries. The Globe's Nojoud Al Mallees writes that Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the manufacturing sector contracted by 1.9 per cent, marking its largest drop since April, 2021. Meanwhile, real gross domestic product for the month fell by 0.1 per cent, falling below Statscan's advance estimate. The weak data support economists' expectations of a slowdown this year brought on by the U.S. trade war. Cracks in the labour market have widened as well, with the unemployment rate climbing to 7 per cent in May. Still, economists do not expect the economy to crater. Canada faces lower tariffs than many U.S. trading partners, and a significant portion of goods crossing the border continue to do so tariff-free. "The broader trade headwind will still slow U.S. demand for imports, including for Canadian goods. But we expect Canadian domestic demand to broadly hold up, and the economy to not fall into a recession," said RBC senior economist Claire Fan in a note.