The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Feb. 21, edition that the lousy finish to 2018 suggests that the Canadian economy may have only grown at about a 1-per-cent annualized pace in the fourth quarter, and the first quarter looks likely to be similarly slow. The Globe's David Parkinson writes that weak United States data, particularly the troubling consumer numbers, now have economists wondering whether growth south of the border is running much better -- estimates in the 1-per-cent to 1.5-per-cent range have started to surface for the first quarter. As Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce chief economist Avery Shenfeld points out in a recent report, "Being in the 1-per-cent club means that it wouldn't take too much to tip the economy over." Mr. Shenfeld argues that the saving grace amid the recent disappointing data is the labour market. Employment in the U.S. jumped by 304,000 jobs in January, while Canadian employment surged by 67,000 positions, both much bigger than expected. Mr. Shenfeld says, "One thing is clear -- the start of a recession is marked by a string of job declines, and we haven't seen that in either the U.S. or Canada."