Canada: Building permits rise 2.6% in November following October's 0.4% decline

"Canadian municipalities issued $8.3 billion worth of building permits in November, up 2.6% from October," Statistics Canada reported on Thursday.

Key takeaways from the press release

• Higher construction intentions for commercial buildings drove most of the gain.
• In the commercial component, the value of building permits was up 16.8% to $2.1 billion, the highest level since May 2007. 
• The value of non-residential building permits rose 11.6% to $3.3 billion in November.