The world economy faces sharply divergent growth prospects across various regions, as prospects of a uniform swift snapback from a dismal 2020 have become clouded. The latest update of the Brookings-Financial Times Tracking Indexes for the Global Economic Recovery (TIGER) reveals grounds for optimism about global growth prospects but also renewed concerns about impediments to a strong recovery. Vaccination euphoria and attendant hopes of a rapid, broad-based recovery have been tempered by a fresh COVID-19 wave sweeping through a number of economies, putting their growth trajectories at risk.
The U.S. and China are shaping up to be the main drivers of global growth in 2021. Household consumption and business investment have surged in both economies, along with measures of private sector confidence. Industrial production has rebounded in most countries, contributing to firming commodity prices and robust international trade. However, the U.S., China, and India are likely to be the only major economies (along with Indonesia and South Korea) that exceed pre-COVID-19 GDP levels by the end of 2021. In most other regions, the scarring effects of the 2020 recession on both GDP and employment are likely to be longer-lasting.
The U.S. economy is poised for a breakout year as massive fiscal stimulus, loose monetary policies, and pent-up demand power rapid GDP growth. Renewed consumer and business confidence have been reflected in generally strong consumption and business investment growth, while financial markets have continued to perform well. Labor market performance has been encouraging, although progress in job growth and unemployment reduction has been uneven in recent months.
Click a country name below the Composite Index to view charts for the main TIGER indexes by country.
Separating the imminent phantom increase in inflation (due to base effects from a weak 2020) from underlying wage and price pressures will complicate monetary policy during 2021. Parsing the rise in government bond yields—which reflects a combination of better growth prospects, risks of inflation, and concerns about rising debt levels—encapsulates the challenges that policymakers face as they try to decipher and manage market expectations. Any additional stimulus measures should ideally aim to simultaneously boost aggregate demand and improve long-term productivity.
China’s growth momentum has stayed strong and balanced, with the government’s attention turning to medium-term structural issues and containment of financial system risks. The recent National People’s Congress meeting ended with a renewed focus on rebalancing demand toward household consumption and shifting growth sources toward high-end manufacturing, the services sector, and small and medium enterprises. The government seems to be leaning toward normalization of macroeconomic policies, with a lower fiscal deficit and some tightening of monetary policy anticipated later in the year. This is being backed up by prudential regulatory measures to manage frothiness in the real estate sector. Trade tensions with the U.S. now appear likely to persist under the Biden administration, but this no longer seems a major factor influencing private sector sentiment or growth in either country.
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European economies, both in the core and periphery of the eurozone, are struggling as they cope with another wave of COVID-19 infections, floundering vaccination programs, and a lack of policy direction. While industrial production, particularly in Germany, has held up well, much of the eurozone might return to pre-COVID-19 GDP levels only by late 2022. The U.K., which in 2020 faced a double whammy from Brexit and COVID-19, has made good progress on vaccinating its population and improved its growth prospects. Japan’s recovery appears fragile. Despite extensive stimulus measures, weak consumer confidence is restraining consumption while export growth has been subdued.
In India, both the manufacturing and services sectors are contributing to a strong rebound.
However, a resurgence of the virus and limited policy space due to high public debt levels and rising inflation could erode some momentum. The rebound in oil prices has buoyed the prospects of countries such as Nigeria, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Brazil’s economy is tottering as the virus spreads unchecked and ineffectual political leadership hampers a concerted response. Turkey faces similar concerns, although it was one of the few economies to register positive growth in 2020. In short, even among emerging markets, there are multiple tracks to the recovery.
Following a marked decline during 2020, the U.S. dollar has firmed up in 2021. In tandem with the upward shift in U.S. bond yields, this portends ill for many emerging market and other developing economies, particularly those with heavy foreign currency debt exposure. Financial market pressures could build up if divergent growth patterns, with more vulnerable economies registering weaker growth, persist through 2021.
Policymakers around the world face an important pivot point. One decision many countries are grappling with is whether to open up their economies despite the continued spread of the virus. Another is whether to infuse additional macroeconomic stimulus, risking an unfavorable tradeoff between short-term benefits and longer-term vulnerabilities. Uncertainties are rife and the stakes are high. Indecisive policies are affecting consumer and business confidence in the weaker economies, adding to economic strains.
The recipe for a strong and durable recovery remains the same as it has over the past year—resolute measures to control the virus coupled with balanced monetary and fiscal stimulus, with an emphasis on policies that support demand as well as improve productivity. In economies that are doing well, it is far too early to ease up in either dimension while in others policymakers will need to redouble their efforts.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
