No surprise came from the third-quarter Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Monday as most major indicators pointed to improvement in lending sentiment. The improvement was likely a direct result of the Federal Reserve's rate pause in September as the central bank began to rebalance its policy to a less ... READ MORE >
Economics
Canada’s unemployment rate rises to 5.7% as hiring slows
More than a year and a half since the Bank of Canada began raising interest rates to cool the economy and tame inflation, the job market is feeling the effects. The Canadian economy added 18,000 jobs in October, down from a gain of 63,800 in September, as the unemployment rate rose by 0.2% to 5.7%, ... READ MORE >
U.S. October jobs report: Moderation in hiring as wage gains outpace inflation
Hiring in the American economy moderated in October, pointing to a cooler pace of growth and inflation that is a much-needed elixir following the torrid pace of hiring and expansion of recent months. The economy added 150,000 jobs in October with the unemployment rate at 3.9%, the Bureau of Labor ... READ MORE >
Canada continues to bet on immigration to boost growth
As Canada grapples with an aging population and a shrinking pool of available workers, it has increasingly looked to immigration to fill the gap. This week, Canadian immigration officials signaled that they have no plans to change course, unveiling a new plan that looks to immigration, particularly for ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims edge up as labor market remains strong
New claims for jobless benefits rose to 217,000 last week, yet they remained below the pre-pandemic level where they have been since September, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. So far, new jobless claims, which increased by a modest 5,000, have stayed remarkably resilient as the labor market ... READ MORE >
FOMC decision: Extended pause as Fed waits for economy and inflation to ease further
The Federal Reserve maintained its policy rate in a range between 5.25% to 5.5% at its November policy meeting on Wednesday. Given the recent backup in Treasury yields, with the 10-year increasing by 124 basis points from 3.74% on July 19 to 4.98% on Oct. 19, the Fed intends to create policy space to ... READ MORE >
Job openings top estimates amid sharp drop in manufacturing
Job openings edged up in September as labor demand remained strong, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Wednesday. The manufacturing sector, according to a separate report from the Institute for Supply Management, declined at a faster rate than expected on falling employment and new ... READ MORE >
Fed’s key wage inflation metric tops forecast
The employment cost index has been the Federal Reserve's top indicator for wage pressure on underlying inflation recently. That figure for the third quarter showed that labor costs rose 1.1% higher than the forecast of 1.0% and were higher than the pre-pandemic average of 0.6%. The hotter-than-expected ... READ MORE >
RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index: Financing costs and UAW strike take toll
Rising yields and the strike by the United Auto Workers contributed to a pullback in manufacturing in the United States into October, with the RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index slipping to 1.3 standard deviations below normal. Although it appears the end of the UAW strike is at hand pending votes ... READ MORE >
Construction employment: Kickstarting the reindustrialization of the American economy
Growth rates in construction employment strongly support the emerging consensus around an economic soft landing. Public policy put in place in recent years—with $300 billion going to public infrastructure and clean energy in addition to $53 billion allocated to jumpstart a semiconductor supply ... READ MORE >