OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s economy will see a solid and sustained rebound this year as inoculations ramp up, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said on Tuesday, while warning that Canada’s red-hot housing market is starting to show signs of “excess exuberance.”
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Macklem, speaking with an Alberta business audience, said that as more Canadians are inoculated, the hardest-hit segments of the economy will be able to begin resuming operations, resulting in strong job growth.
“Clearly getting vaccines into Canada and into Canadians is top priority,” he said. “The sooner we achieve widespread immunity and can get back to more normal activities, the stronger and more sustained will be the recovery.”
He earlier said that vaccines “promise a more sustained recovery” coming out of the second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Answering an audience question about housing, Macklem noted a fundamental shift in buyer needs during the pandemic, but also said for the first time that the central bank is starting to see signs of froth in the hot housing market.
“When we see extrapolative expectations, when we see people starting to buy houses solely because they think the prices are going to go up, that is a warning sign for us. We are starting to see some early signs of excess exuberance,” he said.
He later told reporters the Bank does not yet see the need for new measures to dampen the market.
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In his speech, Macklem said it would be “some time” before Canada saw a full recovery, noting the pandemic had accelerated a trend toward automation, with many low-wage jobs at high risk of being affected.
He also pointed to a “likely permanent” trend toward e-commerce, predicting the economy may need “significantly fewer” retail workers.
“We are not returning to the same economy we had before the pandemic. Even as it recovers, the economy is adapting to structural changes, and some workers will need to shift to jobs in faster-growing sectors,” he said.
Macklem reiterated interest rates would remain at their effective lower bound until economic slack is fully absorbed, which the bank says should occur in 2023.
The Canadian dollar steadied at about 1.2595 per U.S. dollar, or 79.40 U.S. cents, after the speech, near a three-year high.
Additional reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Aurora Ellis
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
