April brought a hint that inflation could soon peak in Canada. The Consumer Price Index rose at an annual rate of 6.8%, a slight increase from March, while all measures of core inflation continued to rise, according to data from Statistics Canada released on Wednesday. On a monthly basis, the increase ... READ MORE >
Canada
Canada’s unemployment rate falls amid a chronic worker shortage
Canada added 15,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 5.2% as the job market remained heated, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday. There is no sign that this tight market will ease any time soon. In addition to the modest number of jobs added, the ... READ MORE >
Canada’s economy continues to show resilient growth
As the number of COVID-19 cases dropped and public health restrictions eased, Canada’s economy grew 1.1% in February, its largest increase in a year and a sign of resilience, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday. The growth was broadly seen across industries, most notably in ... READ MORE >
Canada’s supply chain takes a downturn as fuel prices climb
As Canada’s economy reopened and COVID-19 restrictions were reduced, businesses held out hope that supply chain bottlenecks that had hampered the recovery would ease. But that prospect once again faltered with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a resurgence of the coronavirus in China, an RSM Canada ... READ MORE >
Canada’s inflation hits 6.7% as the global oil shock sets in
Inflation in Canada hit 6.7% in March, up from 5.7% in February and the largest year-over-year increase since January 1991 as supply chain disruptions, the war in Ukraine and a reopening economy all had an effect. Excluding gasoline, inflation rose 5.5% from a year ago, the fastest since the index of ... READ MORE >
Bank of Canada raises rates by a half percentage point
In an effort to target inflation that is at its highest level in decades, the Bank of Canada on Wednesday increased its policy interest rate by 50 basis points, to 1%, and said it would begin to reduce its balance sheet, known as quantitative tightening. The move was widely expected following the ... READ MORE >
Canada’s unemployment rate lowest in nearly five decades
Canada added 73,000 jobs in March, a relatively modest gain that still helped push the unemployment rate down to 5.3%, the lowest since 1976, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday. It is not a coincidence that the unemployment rate is so low while inflation is at its highest level ... READ MORE >
Supply shock ripples across agricultural commodities
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine takes a mounting human and economic toll, it also has the potential to threaten the food supply for millions of people who depend on agricultural commodities from those two countries. Russian and Ukrainian grain exports have plunged, leaving many countries scrambling ... READ MORE >
Canada’s GDP rises, led by construction and trade
Canada’s gross domestic product in January increased modestly by 0.2% from December as the effects of the omicron variant paused growth in the services sector. The gain came entirely from goods-producing industries, which increased by 0.8%, while the services-producing industries saw no growth because ... READ MORE >
RSM Canada Supply Chain Index is flat, but challenges await
The RSM Canada Supply Chain Index in February continued to show stress in the economy, measuring 1.89 standard deviation below normal and little changed from January. For a while, conditions looked promising as the economy recovered from the omicron variant’s spread. Yet this progress was offset by ... READ MORE >