Canada Data Response Retail Sales (Apr.) The recent lockdowns caused retail sales to plunge by 5.7% in April and the preliminary estimate implies they fell sharply in May as well. The outlook is much brighter, with the record level of... 23rd June 2021 · 2 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly New CPI weights could keep a lid on inflation The introduction of new weights for the June CPI means that some of the item-specific price increases that we expect will not push up headline inflation by as much as we thought. Nevertheless, there... 18th June 2021 · 5 mins read
Canada Data Response Consumer Prices (May) The rise in inflation to 3.6% in May was driven by several factors including ongoing global supply constraints, the booming housing market, and the start of the re-opening process. While inflation is... 16th June 2021 · 2 mins read
Canada Data Response Manufacturing Sales (Apr.) Manufacturing sales volumes slumped 3.3% m/m in April, as the disruption from the global semiconductor shortage intensified. While sales volumes should gradually rise again from May, it will be some... 14th June 2021 · 2 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank unconcerned about inflation outlook The communications from the Bank of Canada this week confirmed that it is not worried about inflation surpassing its forecasts for this year, and that it remains committed to keeping the policy rate... 11th June 2021 · 6 mins read
Canada Economics Update Bank likely to taper purchases again in July The Bank did not provide any new hints about the direction of policy in its statement today but, with GDP likely to start growing strongly again this month as the coronavirus restrictions are lifted... 9th June 2021 · 3 mins read
Canada Data Response International Trade (Apr.) The global semiconductor shortage weighed heavily on exports and imports of motor vehicles in April and this disruption continued in May. While exports elsewhere performed better, the broad-based... 8th June 2021 · 2 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Elevated residential investment may concern the Bank The latest data suggest residential investment, which rose to more than 10% of GDP in the first quarter, has already peaked. With the Bank of Canada meeting next week, the key issue for policymakers... 4th June 2021 · 5 mins read
Canada Data Response Labour Force Survey (May) The continued coronavirus restrictions caused employment to fall for the second month running in May but, with re-opening now underway across the country, employment should rise strongly in the coming... 4th June 2021 · 2 mins read
Bank of Canada Watch Bank to wait until July before tapering again Inflation surpassed the upper limit of the Bank of Canada’s target range in April but, with second-quarter GDP growth set to be weaker than the Bank expected and Governor Tiff Macklem concerned about... 2nd June 2021 · 7 mins read
Canada Data Response GDP (Q1) The first-quarter data confirm that the economy took the second coronavirus wave in its stride but, with the preliminary estimate showing that GDP fell in April, the third wave has been much more... 1st June 2021 · 2 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Hot economy summer The re-opening plans set out in the last couple of weeks point to strong gains in GDP over the summer. Given supply constraints, we expect the increase in activity to result in higher inflation than... 28th May 2021 · 5 mins read
Canada Chart Pack Upside risks to inflation as the economy re-opens The jump in inflation to 3.4% in April was stronger than most forecasters expected and, with firms’ selling price expectations rising again in May, there seem to be further upside risks to inflation... 27th May 2021 · 8 mins read
Canada Economics Focus Tackling climate change will be costlier than elsewhere Over the next few years, there is potential for increased “green” investment to more than offset the negative economic effects of measures such as further carbon tax hikes. But given the economy’s... 26th May 2021 · 16 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank monitoring housing for signs of “exuberance” The latest Financial System Review suggests that the Bank of Canada’s concerns about high house price inflation are a key risk to our view that it will wait until early 2023 before raising interest... 21st May 2021 · 4 mins read
Canada Data Response Retail Sales (Mar.) After reaching a record high in March, the preliminary estimate suggests that the lockdowns caused retail sales to slump in April. There is likely to be only a small rise this month given stores have... 21st May 2021 · 3 mins read
