Canada's economy expanded an an annualized pace of 2.9 per cent in the last three months of 2013, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

That was better than the downward-revised pace of 2.4 per cent seen in the U.S. over the same period. It was also better than the 2.5 per cent growth rate that analysts had been expecting.

The gains were broad-based, as most industrial sectors showed expansion. Mining, oil and gas, manufacturing and the public sector all grew.

For 2013 as a whole, the Canadian economy grew by two per cent.

That's about three-tenths of a percentage point higher than predicted by the Bank of Canada and the latest federal budget.

The year ended on a down note, however, as bitterly cold weather all month and a massive ice storm toward the end of the month ate into growth. On a monthly basis, the Canadian economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in December. 

That's the worst monthly figure seen since the recession in 2008.