Author: Sherry Cooper

In a divided decision, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to maintain the federal funds rate in its current range of 1/4 to 1/2 percent for the sixth consecutive time. There were three dissenters at this meeting. Esther George (Kansas City Fed President) was joined by Loretta Mester (Cleveland Fed President) and Eric Rosengren…

From Business News Network (BNN): Sherry Cooper, Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres offers her expectations of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve announcement, why the market will be digging deep into the accompanying statement and what it may mean for the direction of the markets.

This morning, The Canadian Real Estate Board (CREA) released their national real estate statistics for August, which showed a further slide in home sales as new listings resumed their decline and home prices increased once again. For Canada as a whole, the number of homes trading on the MLS Systems fell 3.1% month-over-month in August–the…

The August jobs report was stronger than expected as payrolls bounced back from a significant July decline. Canada’s economy added 26,000 jobs last month (a 0.1% gain), thanks to large gains in the public sector and increased payrolls in Quebec. The rebound followed a disappointing July report where the economy shed 31,200 positions, with big…

Bank of Canada Hold Overnight Rate at 0.5% The Bank of Canada’s decision to hold rates steady once again was very much as expected, even though first half growth was well below the forecast in the July Monetary Policy Report. US growth in the first half of this year was also disappointing, reflecting weakness in…

U.S. Hiring Cooled in August U.S. payrolls rose by 151,000 last month, below the expectation of 180,000, while the jobless rate held steady at 4.9%. This in combination with weakness in yesterday’s Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) report for August showing a slowdown in manufacturing activity reduces the likelihood of a Fed rate hike at its…

According to data released this morning by Statistics Canada, the Canadian economy declined at a 1.6% annual pace in the second quarter, the largest quarterly decline since the global financial crisis in Q2 2009. In comparison, the U.S. economy grew at a 1.1% annual rate last quarter, more sluggish than expected earlier this year.  The…

There has been much hand-wringing about the overheated housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto. Accelerating price gains in the past year are indicative of a buying frenzy, especially in Vancouver, which is clearly unsustainable. New listings are way down, new supply is constrained, and buyer euphoria seems to be suggestive of panic fear of missing…