Canadian Retail Sales (February)
Posted on Apr 21, 2020 in Economics
Seasonally-adjusted Canadian retail sales were up by 0.3% in February at $52 billion. The rise in February was driven by auto dealers and general merchandise stores. Sales were up in 6 of 11 sub-sectors, representing 63% of retail sales. Some retailers reported that both the rail blockades and COVID-19 negatively impacted their sales in February. I...Canadian Employment (March 2020)
Posted on Apr 09, 2020 in Economics
Canadian employment plummeted in March, falling by 1.01 million jobs (-5.3%, m/m). The unemployment rate increased 2.2 percentage points from 5.6% to 7.8%, as government measures intended to limit the spread of COVID-19 led to the closure of non-essential businesses and travel restrictions. Job losses were unsurprisingly right across the country, w...
Canadian Housing Starts (March 2020)
Posted on Apr 08, 2020 in Economics
Canadian housing starts decreased by 7.3% m/m in March to 195,174 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). The decrease was broad-based with starts down in 7 of 10 provinces, signaling early signs of the impact of COVID-19 on construction activity. The trend in national housing starts fell to a still healthy average of 205,000 units SAAR...Canadian Monthly Real GDP (January 2020)
Posted on Mar 31, 2020 in Economics
The Canadian economy grew 0.1 per cent on a monthly basis in January as weather and labour disputes offset more positive developments in some sectors. Before the abrupt change in the world economy due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Canadian economy was set to grow a solid 1.8 per cent in the first quarter. We may start to see the impact of COVID-19...Bank of Canada Interest Rate Announcement
Posted on Mar 27, 2020 in Economics
For the second time this month, the Bank of Canada has lowered its overnight policy rate before its regularly scheduled announcement date, taking the overnight rate down a further 50 basis points to 0.25 per cent. That level is what the Bank considers its effective lower bound, meaning it can not reduce rates further without potentially disrupting...Canadian Retail Sales (January 2020)
Posted on Mar 20, 2020 in Economics
A weak report to start off 2020. Seasonally-adjusted Canadian retail sales were up by 0.4% in January at $52 billion. The rise in January was driven by auto dealers and gas stations. Minus these two sub-sectors and sales were down 0.3% in the month. Sales were up in 4 of 11 sub-sectors, representing 48% of retail sales. The impact of COVID-19 on th...