The Financial Post reports in its Friday, Jan. 19, edition that the Canadian economy is facing mounting challenges with limited potential for an upside surprise, setting the stage for a weak start to 2024, an outlook report by Manulife Investment Management says. The Post's Denise Paglinawan writes that Manulife's director of global macro strategy Dominique Lapointe wrote in the forecast released Thursday that from the retreat of the consumer to limited business investment to stress in the housing sector to the weak global environment, there seems to be little reprieve from the headwinds kicking off the year. He says, "Unfortunately, it's hard to see a good year for growth." Things have already started softly, with gross domestic product growth slowing from 2.7 per cent year-over-year in January to a likely reading of 0.8 per cent in November. Canada's level of economic activity has not increased since May, 2023, and has trended down almost continuously since September, 2022, on a per-capita basis, the report said. Eight out of 20 industries, it added, contracted in October, 2023, on a year-over-year basis, with industries sensitive to interest rates, notably manufacturing and construction, leading the decline.