Year: 2015

China’s surprise move to devalue its currency will likely mean more pain for the battered Canadian economy. Stock markets in Canada and the United States fell sharply on the news that China had allowed the yuan to drop 2%. China made the unexpected decision for two reasons, said Sherry Cooper, chief economist at Dominion Lending…

The Canadian dollar took a double hit on Tuesday from devaluation of the Chinese currency and a fresh six-month low for oil, which slipped below $43. The loonie was at 76.13 cents US at mid-afternoon, down three quarters of a cent from Monday. It hit a low of 76.08 earlier in the day. But the…

In another desperate move to boost a flagging economy, China devalued its currency by 2 percent overnight. The Canadian dollar nose-dived on the news following what had been a week-long recovery. The US dollar strengthened as capital flowed into the safe haven of the greenback. The surprise move sent shock waves through global markets, driving…

“The debate over whether Canada is in a full-fledged recession will continue,” said Sherry Cooper, chief economist at Dominion Lending Centres. That leaves Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz in a wait-and-see pattern on future interest rate adjustments, following two cuts since the start of this year as the impact of the oil-price plunge began…

The divergence between the Canadian and U.S. economies continues as the July employment data reveal Canadian weakness and U.S. strength. The Canadian economy added 6,600 jobs last month as services-related sectors continued to offset job losses in manufacturing and natural resources. The gains reflected more self-employed and part-time work, with the number of full-time jobs…

That wasn’t supposed to happen given our exports are now more competitive. What’s different this time, says economist Sherry Cooper, is that auto manufacturers — significant contributors to the Canadian economy who benefited from the veil of competitiveness provided by a low loonie in past recessions — are not the important economic contributors they once…

Dr. Sherry Cooper, chief economist, Dominion Lending Centres “What is particularly troubling about this one is that the main culprit for the decline in May GDP was manufacturing, a sector that was supposed to be boosted by the weak Canadian dollar. This portends badly for the expected recovery in the current quarter as manufacturing exports…

The Canadian economy contracted in May by 0.2 percent, the fifth consecutive monthly decline. Here we go again. Another in a long list of serial disappointments for the Canadian economy. What is particularly troubling about this one is that the main culprit for the decline in May GDP was manufacturing, a sector that was supposed…

If Canada has a celebrity economist, it’s Sherry Cooper, whose high profile forecasts for BMO were required reading throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The Baltimore native began her career at the Federal Reserve Board and Fannie Mae in the U.S., before moving to Canada in 1983 to work for the brokerage firm Burns Fry (later…

No one expected the Fed to raise its benchmark short-term interest rate today for the first time since 2006. The Fed’s policy statement was, however, expected to at least hint at a rate hike at the next meeting in September. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has publicly stated she expects to raise rates this year–with three…