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OTTAWA — The Canadian economy outperformed expectations in the final three months of 2016 by generating growth at an annual rate of 2.6 per cent.

Statistics Canada’s latest report on real gross domestic product says the biggest contribution to the fourth-quarter increase came from household consumption, which rose at an annual rate of 2.6 per cent.

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The agency says economic growth was limited by an 8.2 per cent decline in business investment, which was the category’s ninth consecutive quarterly contraction.

The headline GDP figure also received a boost from a sharp quarterly drop in imports, which fell at an annual rate of 13.5 per cent. Statistics Canada said some of that decline was due to the one-time, third-quarter import of a large module for the Hebron offshore oil project.

Economists had been expecting growth of two per cent, but beyond the blockbuster headline, many were not impressed with the details.