Canada's gross domestic product rebounded in April after shrinking in February and March, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

Manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and the financial sector grew, offsetting drops in construction, and the oil and gas industry.

The GDP was up 0.4 per cent in April, after dropping 0.2 per cent in March and 0.3 per cent in February.

The April 2008 figure was up 1.2 per cent from the April 2007 report.

"The rebound in April GDP is likely just enough to help the Canadian economy avoid a technical recession for now," BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter said in a comment on his company's website.

A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters during which the economy shrinks. The Canadian economy shrank at an annualized rate of 0.3 per cent over the first three months of the year, Statistics Canada reported in May.

Goods, services both gain

Both the service sector — about 70 per cent of the economy — and goods production were up 0.4 per cent in April.

The gain in goods was driven by a 1.9 per cent rise in manufacturing, but the increase was not enough to recover the ground lost in the two previous months, or even make a dent in the year-over-year drop.

"That gain in factories looks like a pond in the desert, as output in the sector is down 5.6 per cent from a year ago, by far the worst-performing sector over that period," Porter said.

In services, the wholesale sector jumped 2.1 per cent, retail was up 0.6 per cent and finance, insurance and real estate was up 0.2 per cent. It's the largest service industry, accounting for about a fifth of the national economy.

A big jump in motor vehicle production, up seven per cent in April, boosted the manufacturing number.

GDP is a measure of the economy that counts the value of all the goods and services produced in a given period, in this case the month of April.