Articles
Red Hot Labour Market Despite Rate Hikes Today’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) for January was much stronger than expected, once again calling into question how long the Bank of Canada’s rate pause will last. This report showed no evidence that the labour market is slowing in response to the vast and rapid runup in interest rates. …
No Surprises Here: The Bank of Canada Hiked Rates By Only 25 bps, Signalling A Pause As expected, the Bank of Canada–satisfied with the sharp decline in recent inflation pressure–raised the policy rate by only 25 bps to 4.5%. Forecasting that inflation will return to roughly 3.0% later this year and to the target of 2%…
Good News on the Inflation Front in December The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.3% year over year in December, down from the 6.8% pace in November. Much of the decline was owing to the drop in gasoline prices. Additional deceleration came from homeowners’ replacement costs, fuel oil and other owned accommodation expenses, and various durable…
OSFI Is At It Again Late last week, the Office of the Superintendent for Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced it was concerned about the risks associated with the large and rising number of highly indebted borrowers, especially those with floating-rate mortgages, which stands at a record proportion of outstanding mortgage loans. With the economy in danger…
December Housing Data Ended 2022 On A Weak Note Statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales were up month-over-month in December while new listings plummeted and national home prices fell again. Home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems increased 1.3% between November and December 2022. Ottawa and Edmonton…
Employment Report Ended 2022 With A Boom Today’s Labour Force Survey for December was much stronger than expected, raising the odds of a 25 bps increase in the policy rate by the Bank of Canada on January 25th. While the Bank has hiked rates by 400 bps to 4.25%, core inflation remains sticky, wages have…
The Bank of Canada Won’t Like This Inflation Report November’s CPI inflation rate fell only one tick to 6.8%, despite gasoline prices falling. This follows a two-month reading of 6.9%. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 5.4% yearly last month, up from 5.3% in October. Critical gauges of underlying price pressure were mixed but continued…
Another Month, Another Dip in Housing Statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show home sales edged down in November. National home sales fell 3.3% between October and November, continuing the moderating sales trend that began last February on the precipice of unprecedented monetary policy tightening. Sales are down a whopping 39%…
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions raised the capital buffer financial institutions must hold to three per cent, citing increased risked from high household indebtedness and the rapid rise in interest rates. The financial watchdog also increased the capital buffer’s range, or the policy tool to keep the country’s financial stability in check,…
Sherry Cooper, chief economist with Dominion Lending Centres, joins BNN Bloomberg for reaction to the Bank of Canada’s 50bps hike. She says the central bank will need to see the labour market cool and that it will likely not pivot to rate cuts until 2024. Click here to watch the video now!