US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (May 13) The number of existing home sales broke decisively above the five million mark in May, while the supply of existing homes for sale continued to creep upwards. 20th June 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Monetary policy to remain highly accommodative Governor Stephen Poloz's debut public speech, which focused on the fragile global recovery and lack of business confidence, touched on our long-held concerns about Canada's economic recovery and why... 19th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Fed likely to begin QE taper in September In most advanced western economies the supply of labour is likely to be boosted by a rise in labour market participation during the coming year or two. This should help to prevent wage inflation... 19th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Data Response Consumer Prices (May) Thanks to some unfavourable base effects, the annual rate of headline CPI inflation rebounded to 1.4% in May, from 1.1%, even though prices increased by only 0.1% m/m last month specifically... 18th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Housing Starts (May 13) The rise in housing starts in May was driven by a surge in multi-family starts and went some way to reversing April’s big drop. Despite some headwinds, starts are on track to increase further over the... 18th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (May) Broad money growth has remained stable since late last year, with our measure of the M3 aggregate expanding by 6.2% over the 12 months to May. 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Labour market less sensitive to falls in S&L govt. investment The sharp drop in State and Local (S&L) government investment has had a smaller adverse impact on the unemployment rate than might have been expected. The ongoing fiscal consolidation may therefore... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Higher unit labour costs are a false alarm The rise in the annual growth rate of unit labour costs has more to do with declining labour productivity, rather than any acceleration in the growth rate of labour compensation. Looking ahead, we... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fed responding to improving economic outlook It now appears that GDP growth will slow to around 1.8% in the second quarter, but we should see a pick-up in the second half of this year. The slowdown is probably a delayed reaction to the tax hikes... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Manufacturing Sales (Apr.) With most attention focused on the housing sector, the plight of the manufacturing sector has gone largely unnoticed. But manufacturing sales volumes have been trending lower for more than a year now... 14th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Data Response Uni. of Mich. Consumer Confidence (Jun.) The slight drop in the University of Michigan measure of consumer confidence to 82.7 in June, from 84.5, reversed only part of the sharp gain of May. While the details of the report point to solid... 14th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Data Response Industrial Production & Producer Prices (May) The recent weakness of the global economy explains why both industrial activity and core producer price pressures are still subdued. Producers have had little choice but to reflect the previous sharp... 14th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update How concerned should we be about higher mortgage rates? The rise in mortgage interest rates has the potential to generate a hiatus in housing sales and starts over the summer. At the margins, the rise also adds to the case for expecting the housing... 13th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Data Response Retail Sales (May 13) May’s retail sales figures revealed some tentative signs that households are getting over January’s tax hikes and may be starting to spend some of the cash freed up by the recent fall in gasoline... 13th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Fed Watch Ahead of the taper We don't expect the Fed to begin curbing its asset purchases from the current pace of $85bn per month at the upcoming FOMC meeting, which concludes next Wednesday (19th June). The economic data simply... 12th June 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Teranet-National Bank House Prices (May) In spite of the sharp 1.1% m/m increase, the annual growth rate of Teranet house prices held steady at 2.0% in May. For now, both the past decline in existing home sales and the steady rise in the... 12th June 2013 · 1 min read
