Economy

Canadians feeling pessimistic about economy as confidence falls to lowest in a year – The Kingston Whig-Standard

Published

3 years ago

March 28, 2022

Combination of higher inflation, rising interest rates and uncertainty surrounding the war starting to weigh on consumers

Bloomberg News

Theophilos Argitis

Publishing date:

Mar 28, 2022 • 34 minutes ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation

Low confidence could have potentially deleterious impacts on spending and growth. Photo by Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg files

Canadian consumer sentiment tumbled to its lowest level in more than a year as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and surging inflation cloud the economic outlook, weekly polling data suggest.

The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, a measure of sentiment based on weekly polling, fell to 56.3 last week, the lowest reading since January last year. The gauge is down more than three points since the end of February.

For the first time since 2020, the share of Canadians who believe the economy will weaken over the next six months surpassed 50 per cent.

The numbers suggest the combination of higher inflation, rising interest rates and uncertainty surrounding the war is starting to weigh on consumers, with potentially deleterious impacts on spending and growth.

Every week, Nanos Research surveys 250 Canadians for their views on personal finances, job security and their outlook for both the economy and real estate prices. The confidence index represents a rolling four-week average of about 1,000 responses.

Rate hikes

Up until last month, Canadian household consumer confidence numbers held up relatively well compared with other countries, buoyed by a booming housing market and expanding economy. But the surge in oil prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the beginning of rate hikes from the Bank of Canada are raising worries.

The survey data show pessimists on the economic outlook outnumber optimists by more than two-to-one, with 51 per cent of respondents expecting the economy to weaken. That’s up 10 percentage points since February.

About 39 per cent of respondents said their finances have worsened over the past year, which is also the highest since 2020, when sentiment figures hit record lows as the COVID pandemic hit.

Sentiment around real estate remains elevated, with 63 per cent of Canadians expecting housing prices to continue marching higher. Job security is also at above historic averages.

Bloomberg.com

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

Economy

September merchandise trade deficit narrows to $1.3 billion: Statistics Canada

Published

8 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the country’s merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $1.3 billion in September as imports fell more than exports.

The result compared with a revised deficit of $1.5 billion for August. The initial estimate for August released last month had shown a deficit of $1.1 billion.

Statistics Canada says the results for September came as total exports edged down 0.1 per cent to $63.9 billion.

Exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products fell 5.4 per cent as exports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys, decreased 15.4 per cent. Exports of energy products dropped 2.6 per cent as lower prices weighed on crude oil exports.

Meanwhile, imports for September fell 0.4 per cent to $65.1 billion as imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products dropped 12.7 per cent.

In volume terms, total exports rose 1.4 per cent in September while total imports were essentially unchanged in September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Source link