The National Bank of Canada

FACTS: Canada’s manufacturing sales fell 1.5% in July, after a downwardly revised 0.8% drop in June. Manufacturers in 11 of 21 industries reported lower sales in July, but 80% of the decline was...

Last week the ECB announced officially its intention to engage in unlimited purchase of the bonds of distressed countries if they request aid from the rescue fund and respect the conditions. This...

Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled that the country can legally participate in the eurozone bailout fund and budget agreement. However, the government would need the German parliament’s...

A lot is known about the demographic challenges of aging societies, particularly in the developed world. Indeed, demographics is one the few areas where long-term projections tend to be on the mark....

FACTS: In Canada, for an ninth month in a row, housing starts exceeded 200K units at an annual rate in August (top chart), reaching 224.9K, a 16.9K or 8.1% increase from July. In August, urban starts...

FACTS: Canada’s merchandise trade deficit widened to CAD 2.34 bn in July from a downwardly revised CAD 1.9 bn deficit, much worse than what was expected by consensus. That was the worst...

Major News this WeekIt’s done: Super Mario has finally taken action! On Wednesday Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, announced that he was implementing a bond buying program....

Canada –The Labour Force Survey showed a 34.3K increase in employment in August. That was well above consensus expectations which were at +10K. The job gains allowed the unemployment rate to...

There are fewer apartment sales but more sellers in the Toronto resale market. According to August data from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), apartment sales were 24% lower than a year ago, but...

So much for the forecasting powers of the ADP whose strong number had raised hopes earlier about the employment situation. But the labour market remains fragile as evidenced by the weak nonfarm...

FACTS: Total employment surged 34.3K in August following a drop of 30.4K jobs in July. Full-time jobs were down (-12.5K) while part-time jobs soared (+46.7K). The goods-producing sector was down...

Summary• Despite the weakness of the global economy, the price of certain commodities has shot up over the summer. Oil has risen sharply on account of geopolitical tensions and renewed interest...

As widely expected, the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged at 1.00%. The BoC again stuck to its guns by leaving intact in its statement the phrase "some modest withdrawal of the present...

Even if Ben Bernanke’s speech in Jackson Hole provided little information about the timing and scope for Quantitative easing (QE), the word got around this weekend that four Federal Reserve...

FACTS: Canadian GDP grew 1.8% annualized in the second quarter of 2012. The prior quarter was, however, revised down one tick to 1.8%. Domestic demand grew 1.7% in Q2 as tepid consumption spending...

The Canadian economy continues to expand, but for some reason, it seems that the same percentage point of real GDP is not providing the same degree of income as it used to. What’s happening?...