Bank of Canada Holds Rates and QE Steady–Asserting That Both the Upside in Inflation and the Downside in GDP is Temporary The Bank of Canada left the benchmark overnight policy rate unchanged at 0.25% and maintained its current pace of GoC bond purchases at its current pace. The Governing Council renewed its pledge to refrain from raising rates until the […]
Canada’s Jobs Recovery Derailed By Third-Wave Restriction This morning, Statistics Canada released the May 2021 Labour Force Survey showing another contraction in employment, albeit not as dramatic as in April. With the geographical broadening in lockdown restrictions in May, employment fell by 68,000 (-0.4%), but almost all of the decline was in part-time work. The number of self-employed workers was virtually […]
Housing Drove the Economic Expansion in Q1 This morning’s Stats Canada release showed that the economy grew at a 5.6% annualized rate in the first quarter, after a revised 9.3% pace in the final quarter of last year. That was somewhat below economists’ expectations. Housing investment grew at an annualized 43% pace, by far the biggest impetus of the expansion. […]
Starting to See A Slowdown In Canadian Housing Today, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales fell 12.4% nationally from March to April 2021. Over the same period, the number of newly listed properties fell 5.4%, and the MLS Home Price Index rose 2.4%. While home sales fell month-over-month in April, largely due to the new lockdowns, April sales […]