Canada's economy posted a surprise contraction in the first quarter versus the year before, making it two straight quarters of annualized decline - which some economists call a technical recession - as the country struggles with U.S. tariff uncertainty. Gross domestic product declined at an annualized rate of 0.1% in the first quarter, Statistics Canada said on Friday, compared with a downwardly revised contraction of 1% in the fourth quarter of last year. Analysts ​polled by Reuters and the Bank of Canada had predicted first-quarter growth of a robust 1.5%. On a quarterly basis, ​first-quarter GDP was unchanged ... (full story)