The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Canada's GDP contracted by 0.2 per cent in February, marking the first decline since November, driven by shrinking activities in mining, oil, gas and construction due to bad weather. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that the Bank of Canada and economists anticipate continued sluggish growth influenced by U.S. tariffs. While purchases were pulled forward in anticipation of tariffs, increasing inventories have begun to affect demand and investments, as reflected in various economic indicators. Slowing growth in February forced markets to change bets for a rate-cut chance in June to a little higher than 50 per cent from 45 per cent earlier. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the economy to stay flat in February, in line with Statistics Canada's advance estimate last month. January GDP had registered a growth of 0.4 per cent. The economy is likely to expand by 0.1 per cent in March and on an annualized basis the GDP is expected to grow by 1.5 per cent in the first quarter. Desjardins analyst Royce Mendes says: "It's clear that momentum is waning after a hot start to the year. We continue to see central bankers resuming their rate cutting cycle in June."