Ottawa, ON, March 7--The value of Canadian building permits issued in January fell by 11.0 percent from December's near-record highs, said Statistics Canada on Monday.
The drop was much steeper than the 2.0 percent drop expected by analysts.
Statistics Canada said on Monday that the level of permits fell to its lowest since May, but was still 8.8 percent higher than January 2004.
"Despite January's overall retreat, construction intentions remained high by historical standards. The total value of permits in January was only 3.6 percent lower than the average monthly level in 2004, which was a record year," Statistics Canada said in a release.
Statistics Canada also revised its figures for all of the months in 2004 to incorporate late reports and new seasonal patterns. All figures are seasonally adjusted.
