A pedestrian on Feb. 25 walks past the window of a restaurant with a sign promoting its re-opening in Boulder, Colo. Congress on Wednesday passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, which is expected to provide a strong boost to economic growth.
David Zalubowski/AP
David Zalubowski/AP
The U.S. economy is about to get a shot of its own.
The $1.9 trillion relief package passed by Congress on Wednesday is expected to give a substantial boost to the world’s largest economy once it’s signed by President Biden, putting more money in people’s pockets just as an improving pandemic outlook opens new avenues for them to spend it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 61 million people in the United States have gotten at least one shot, with 32 million already fully vaccinated.
The rollout of vaccines offers the promise of more normal travel and entertainment options later in the year, further boosting the outlook of an economy already showing signs of improvement.
“The key engine of growth is going to be that powerful cocktail of both a healthier economy along with fiscal stimulus,” said Gregory Daco, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development projects the U.S. economy will grow by 6.5% this year. That’s more than twice the growth rate it was projecting in December — thanks in large part to more robust federal aid.
Daco himself believes the U.S. economy will grow by 7% this year, while also adding 7 million jobs – a level of growth not seen since about the 1980s.
“It’s been about four decades since we’ve seen such strong growth in real GDP,” he said. “But you have to remember that we’re coming out of a very deep hole when it comes to the damage that’s been done by the COVID crisis.”
A sign is shown at a COVID-19 vaccine site in San Francisco on Feb. 8. The rollout of vaccines is raising the prospect of increased travel and spending by Americans.
Haven Daley/AP
Haven Daley/AP
Also helping turbocharge growth is how President Biden’s plan is structured, according to experts.
The American Rescue Plan — which Democrats pushed through Congress with no Republican support — includes $1,400 payments for most Americans, extended unemployment benefits and increased subsidies for children.
The benefits are heavily weighted towards low- and moderate-income families, in marked contrast to the 2017 tax cut, which Republicans championed on a similar, party-line basis.
Rather than waiting for benefits to trickle down, the COVID relief package showers money on lower-income households, boosting income for the poorest 20% of families by an average of 20%, according to the Tax Policy Center’s analysis, while top earners would see their income rise less than 1%.
Because low-income families are more likely to spend the extra money, it’s expected to provide a significant lift to the broader economy.
“There was a big question about the [2017] Tax Cut and Jobs Act, whether or not it would over time have much of a stimulative effect,” said Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. “This one, there’s no question. Everyone agrees it will stimulate the economy. The question is will it stimulate the economy too much?”
Lower-income families get the biggest boost from the tax benefits in the American Rescue Plan, in contrast to the 2017 tax cut which primarily benefited the wealthy.
Tax Policy Center
Tax Policy Center
The center’s analysis looked only at the tax provisions of the latest bill, not measures like unemployment benefits or aid to cities and states.
But the question of whether it will prove too stimulative and trigger inflation has raised concerns among other analysts.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who served in different positions in the Clinton and Obama administrations, has been one of the most prominent Democratic critics of the plan.
Summers is concerned that with consumer spending already on the rise, a surge in new federal spending could overwhelm businesses, triggering a rise in prices.
“We need to make sure we’re concerned with not overheating the economy,” Summers told NPR’s Weekend Edition last month.
Summers also warned that deficit-financed spending now on a short-term relief package could make it harder for the Biden administration to find money later for long-term investments in things like infrastructure.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that consumer prices had risen just 1.7% in the last year — below the Federal Reserve’s annual target of 2%.
While prices are expected to increase faster in the months to come, Fed officials have said repeatedly they expect that acceleration to be temporary.
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.
