OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product was down 0.3 per cent in August as both the goods and services side of the economy contracted.

The agency says August’s decline mostly offsets a 0.3 per cent gain in real GDP for July, which was revised a tick higher from earlier estimates.

A work stoppage from Air Canada flight attendants hampered air transportation activity in August, but the month also saw declines from manufacturing, the wholesale trade industry and the mining and quarrying subsectors.

The retail trade industry was the main source of growth offsetting the decline in August.

StatCan’s initial estimates call for 0.1 per cent growth in September, where early signs suggest showed a rebound in the tariff-sensitive manufacturing sector.

Those early estimates su

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