Author: Sherry Cooper

No one expected the Federal Reserve to raise rates today even though they have been criticized by some for lacking credibility. When the target overnight fed funds rate was first hiked late last year, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) forecast four rate hikes this year. Now, most Committee members believe there will be only…

From Business News Network (BNN): The hottest real estate markets in Canada continue to defy gravity with home sales in Toronto last month reaching a record level and prices jumping 16 per cent. Sherry Cooper, Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres, has not used the word “bubble” to describe conditions in Toronto or Vancouver, but says…

First on the U.S. Jobs Front The May employment report was released this morning in the US and it was shockingly weak–indeed, the weakest number in almost 6 years. Nonfarm payroll employment was up only 38,000, well below the market expectation of 160,000. Not only was May incredibly weak, but the March and April job…

In a short but not-so-sweet missive, the Bank of Canada left its target overnight rate unchanged at 1/2 percent as expected. The Bank, however, sharply reduced its forecast for second quarter Canadian growth owing to the devastating wildfires in Alberta. The Bank’s economists estimate that the fire-related damage and shutdown of oil production will reduce…

From Business News Network (BNN): Sherry Cooper, Chief Economist at Dominion Lending Centres joins BNN to break down the April jobs numbers for Canada and the U.S.

March saw employment gains of 41,000 (+0.2%), the strongest reading in five months, with Alberta (of all places) enjoying the largest improvement. This lowered the unemployment rate by 0.2 percentage points to 7.1%. So it is not surprising to see job weakness in April report. Indeed, employment was virtually unchanged last month (-2,100 or 0.0%)…

Crude oil prices are poised for their biggest monthly gain in seven years, hitting a new high for 2016, and as day follows night, the Canadian dollar is up sharply–just shy of 80 cents U.S. Today’s February GDP report was not as weak as expected following the blowout number in January, leaving Canada likely to…

To no one’s surprise, the Bank of Canada left its target overnight rate unchanged at 1/2 percent. The Bank, however, reduced its forecast for the global economy and for the U.S. economy as well, suggesting that the outlook for Canadian exports is less favorable than earlier forecast. (Table 1 below shows the Bank’s current global…