The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, Aug. 31, edition that the Canadian economy grew at a faster-than-expected annualized pace of 2.1 per cent in the second quarter driven by government spending and business investment. The Post's Jordan Gowling writes that there are early indications, however, of a loss of momentum heading into the third quarter. Despite the modestly better growth, CIBC economist Andrew Grantham stated that momentum heading into the third quarter is weak, with early estimates at 0.5 per cent annualized. Mr. Grantham says, "Because of that, we still see the Bank of Canada reducing interest rates by 25 basis points at each remaining meeting this year." Per-capita gross domestic product fell by 0.1 per cent, a fifth consecutive quarterly decline, Statistics Canada said Friday. Business investment in equipment and machinery increased by 6.5 per cent in the April-to-June period. Government spending was also a contributor to growth, increasing by 1.5 per cent as compensation and hours worked by employees rose. RBC economist Abbey Zu says, "Details are not as strong as the headline number, by our count a surge in government spending accounted for 80 per cent of the second quarter GDP increase."