The Canadian economy ended 2021 on a strong note, expanding by 4.6% on an annual basis thanks to a reopening economy, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday. Real gross domestic product, after adjusting for inflation, grew by 1.6% in the fourth quarter on a quarterly basis following ... READ MORE >
coronavirus
U.S. consumers spend more in January, defying inflation
Personal spending rebounded in January even as inflation rose at the highest rate in decades. Consumers looked past the omicron surge to spend more for the first time in three months on an inflation-adjusted basis. Spending rose 2.1% on the month, and 1.5% after adjusted for price increases while the ... READ MORE >
U.S. new home sales declined in January
New home sales dropped 4.5% in January as high prices and increasing mortgage rates slowed demand, according to data from the Census Bureau on Thursday. The omicron variant and colder-than-usual weather in January also contributed to the decline. As a result, inventory levels increased to 6.1 months of ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Initial jobless claims continue to decline
Initial jobless claims last week continued to trend down toward the pre-pandemic level after a period of temporary increases because of the omicron variant. New filings for the week ending Feb. 19 dropped to 232,000 from 249,000 in the prior week, only 14,000 claims away from the 2019 average. The ... READ MORE >
RSM US Supply Chain Index: Omicron pauses improvement
Stress in the U.S. supply chain increased in January as the omicron surge temporarily put some parts of overall production to a halt. While we still expect stress on U.S. and global supply chains to improve this year, geopolitical tensions associated with the imminent Russian incursion into Ukraine ... READ MORE >
Reimagining the workforce for the digital age: An RSM and U.S. Chamber discussion
Click to watch the webcast As the pandemic has convulsed America’s real economy, middle market businesses have had to contend with profound changes to their workforces, said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist of RSM US, and Neil Bradley, chief policy officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Buyers rush into housing market before rate hikes
Investors with all-cash offers flocked into the housing market before rate hikes, helping to push sales of existing homes to 6.5 million in January at an annualized rate, according to data released on Friday by the National Association of Realtors. The share of investors jumped 5 percentage points on ... READ MORE >
Canada’s retail sales slump because of omicron
Retail sales in Canada plunged by 1.8% in December across all provinces as the spread of the omicron variant hurt holiday shopping, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday. The fast spread of the variant led to tightened restrictions and limited capacity at stores across the country. ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: U.S. housing permits reach 15-year high
Housing supply showed no sign of slowing down in January despite a decrease in starts because of the omicron surge. The one-time impact—which has subsided quickly—caused housing starts to decline by 4.1% in January to 1.638 million from 1,708 million in December on an annualized rate. But housing ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims rise unexpectedly
New filings for jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week because of large jumps in Missouri and Ohio. New claims advanced to 248,000 from an upwardly revised 225,000 the week before, according to data from the Labor Department on Thursday. The upside surprise was quite large as the market had ... READ MORE >