Canadian Employment (March 2021)
Posted on Apr 09, 2021 in Economics
Canadian employment gained 303K jobs in March (1.6%, m/m), bringing total employment to within 1.5% or 296K jobs of its pre-pandemic level from February 2020. Both part-time employment with full-time employment contributed to the gains in March, rising by 128K and 175K jobs respectively. The national unemployment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage po...Mortgage Rate Forecast - March 2021
Posted on Mar 26, 2021 in Economics
Mortgage Rate Outlook
Canadian 5-year bond yields jumped in February and are now about 70 basis points above their pandemic lows. Yields moved sharply higher due to increased optimism about the economy, particularly as vaccinations progress. There may also be some pressure as Canada competes for capital with other sovereign governments looking to fi...Canadian Employment (February 2021)
Posted on Mar 12, 2021 in Economics
Canadian employment gained 259k jobs in February (1.4%, m/m), almost making up for the 266k jobs lost in the previous two months. This left the employment level 3.1% (-599k) below its February 2020 pre-pandemic level. The rise was largely in part-time employment with full-time positions continuing to see positive growth in February. Notable job gai...Strong Canadian Economic Growth in Q4 and January
Posted on Mar 04, 2021 in Economics
This morning's Stats Canada release showed that economic growth in the final quarter of last year was a surprisingly strong 9.6% (annualized). The surge in growth in January was even more interesting, estimated at a 0.5% (not annualized) pace. If these numbers pan out, it means that Canada did not suffer a contraction during the second wave and ens...Canadian Real GDP Growth (Q4'2020)
Posted on Mar 04, 2021 in Economics
The Canadian economy expanded at a 9.6 per cent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2020. Growth was led by increased government spending, business investment and investment in new home construction and renovations as well as a large change in business inventories as large drawdowns of inventory from previous quarters reversed. For 2020 as a whole...Canadian Inflation (January 2021)
Posted on Feb 17, 2021 in Economics
Canadian inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 1.0% in January year-over-year. The increase was largely due to higher gasoline prices (6.1%). Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose by 1.3%, which is up from 1.0% in December. Prices rose in seven of eight components year-over-year in January. Growth in the Bank of Canada's three...