Canada Economics Update Housing in Canada Speaking in Vancouver today, the Governor of the Bank of Canada Mark Carney admitted that housing valuations are elevated and hinted that if there were a sudden weakening in the housing sector, then... 16th June 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Survey of Manufacturing (Apr.) April's survey of manufacturers showed that sales fell sharply, down 1.3% m/m, primarily due to disruptions in auto production, caused by parts supply shortages from Japan. Taking into account an even... 16th June 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Is housing really in short supply? Over the last ten years, the accumulation of excess new housing inventory, sharp increases in homeownership rates and rising rental vacancy rates have all coincided with a house price boom and a run... 14th June 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Labour Force Survey (May) At first glance May's labour force survey appears respectable, with 22,300 jobs added and a material drop in the unemployment rate, from 7.6% to 7.4%. The details, however, are not as encouraging and... 11th June 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response International Merchandise Trade (Apr.) April’s trade data show that, despite a massive drop in imports from Japan, Canada's trade deficit actually widened. The drop in imports, concentrated in Japan and other OECD countries, was... 10th June 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Federal Budget 2011 The new Conservative majority government now aims to tackle its updated C$36.2bn deficit essentially over four years, which we think will prove far too optimistic. A global economic slowdown, a drop... 6th June 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Chart Pack Export recovery lacks volume Canada's gradual export recovery, particularly in terms of volumes, reflects the fragile US economic turnaround and the runaway Canadian dollar; which has been pushed up in the wake of the commodities... 6th June 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Budget unlikely to differ much from first version If the Bank of Canada was trying to hint in last week's statement that a rate hike might be on the way then that message was largely drowned out by the unrelenting flow of weak economic data coming... 6th June 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Bank of Canada remains cautious The policy statement from the Bank of Canada this morning highlighted that ultimately it will raise rates at some point, this year or next year, but even then it said the extent of any policy... 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response GDP (Q1 2011) The pick up in GDP growth to 3.9% annualised in the first quarter, from 3.1% in the fourth quarter, is unlikely to be sustained. With the temporary boost to growth from sharply higher energy and auto... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Second quarter growth slowdown The week ahead will be dominated by first quarter GDP and the Bank of Canada's policy decision. We estimate that Canada's economy grew by 3.7% annualised in the first quarter. Temporary disruptions to... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
Bank of Canada Watch Bank of Canada in no hurry to raise rates It is almost a foregone conclusion that the Bank of Canada will hold its key policy interest rate at 1% next week. More importantly, we think the Bank will refrain from offering hints of imminent rate... 25th May 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Housing renovation boom on shaky ground Renovation investment has risen to historically high levels in Canada. This boom in renovation is another symptom of a broader housing bubble. The very high level of construction employment is another... 23rd May 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Retail Sales (Mar.) The latest retail sales data confirm that real consumption growth slowed to just above 1% annualised in the first quarter, well below the 5% pace seen in the final three months of last year. Given the... 20th May 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Consumer Price Index (Apr.) Consumer price inflation remained at 3.3% in April, though still up from 2.3% just three months ago. Measures of underlying inflation, more importantly, remained subdued. Provided that inflation... 20th May 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Survey of Manufacturing (Mar.) March's survey of manufacturers offers some encouraging news in the form of higher sales volumes and a jump in unfilled orders. With autos production operating at lower levels due to parts supply... 16th May 2011 · 1 min read
