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Whether the worst is behind Canada has become a focal point of the federal election, which has made use of the R-word contentious.

Two quarters of negative growth is considered a technical recession, but economists judge an actual recession by the length, depth and breadth of weakness. Given that the unemployment rate has remained steady and wages continue to grow, most economists say Canada is not currently experiencing what would be seen as a true recession.

Most of the damage in the second quarter can be blamed on declines in both business spending (which plunged at an annual rate of 12 per cent) and inventory accumulation. The declines did not catch economists off guard, however, given the collapse in oil prices and spending cuts in the energy sector had foreshadowed the drops.

The declines were offset, however, by strong gains in consumer spending, the housing market and government spending. When looking at the non-energy portion of gross domestic product — roughly 90 per cent of the economy — GDP actually expanded by 0.6 per cent in the second quarter, with 17 of 20 industries reporting higher output in June alone.

Those readings lend support to the idea that the so-called technical recession is likely in the rearview mirror, said Stéfane Marion, chief economist for National Bank of Canada.

“So far, industrial production is the only sector that has seen a significant decline in activity in Canada,” he said. “We need to see economic weakness spread to the service sector to confirm the end of the economic expansion.”