GDP output fell an expected 0.1% in April, which represented an easing from the 0.3% drop in March and matches the 0.1% contraction in February. These recent declines indicate a marked improvement fro...

Canadian retail sales slumped in April, marking the first month in four that sales fell. Sales dropped 0.8%, defying forecasts for a 0.1% increase. In volume terms, sales were also weaker, falling by ...

Canada's headline inflation rate rose by 0.7% in May, a much steeper increase than the market forecast for a 0.4% rise. Even with this hefty monthly gain, the annual inflation rate continued to modera...

Manufacturing sales fell 0.1% in April following a downwardly revised 3.1% drop in March (originally reported as down 2.7%). The decline was less pronounced than market expectations of a 1.8% plunge. ...

Canada's trade balance fell to -C$0.2 billion in April after a C$1 billion reading (revised from C$ 1.1 billion) in March. Expectations were for a C$1 billion reading. Exports fell 5.1% after a 2% dr...

Canadian housing starts showed welcome signs of improvement in May, rising to 128,400 annualized from April’s 117,600. The increase was broadly based across building types. Both urban singles starts a...

After a surprising 35,900 rise in employment in April, Canadian labour markets returned to shedding jobs with employment falling 41,800 in May. A return to declining employment had been widely expecte...

Following gains in April, employment decreased by 42,000 in May, led by further manufacturing losses. The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 8.4%, the highest rate in 11 years. Since t...

Canada's Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) came in at 48.4, lower than the expected 54.3 and below the prior month's read of 53.7. The corresponding figure for May, 2008 was 62.5 and for May, 2007 ...

The Canadian economy dropped an annualized 5.4% in the first quarter, a deepening in the pace of decline compared to the 3.7% drop in the fourth quarter. On a monthly basis, GDP declined 0.3% in March...

The Canadian economy contracted 0.3% in March, totaling a 1.4% decline over the first three months of the year, the biggest quarterly decrease since 1991. In February and March the pace of economic de...

The current account deficit totalled a seasonally adjusted $9.1 billion in the first quarter, slightly smaller than the consensus call for a $10.3 billion shortfall. Another narrowing in the goods tra...

Canadian retail sales rose again in March for the third consecutive month. Sales increased by 0.3%, just shy of forecasts for a 0.5% rise. In volume terms, sales rose by 0.7%. The increase in March wa...

Cross-border investment activity strengthened in March, as conditions on global financial markets appeared to be stabilizing. Canadian investors acquired $6.2 billion of foreign securities, led by the...

According to Statistics Canada, wholesale sales declined 0.6% to $40.5 billion in current dollars in March. Declining sales in the building materials and machinery and electronic equipment sectors wer...

The April consumer price report showed a monthly decline in unadjusted prices of 0.1%. The bigger news was the slump in the headline inflation rate to 0.4% on a year-over-year basis as the 0.1% decrea...

The core rate of inflation rose again in April, coming in at 0.1%, as expected. The CPI number came in at -0.1%, declining for the first time in the last three months. In April from one year earlier, ...

Canada's merchandise trade balance increased to $1.1 billion in March from an upwardly revised $0.3 billion in February, which was previously reported as $0.1 billion. Market expectations going into t...

Canada's trade balance came in at 1.1B, a higher surplus than expected, Statistics Canada said today. Exports and imports both fell largely due to volume reductions. Imports declined more than twice a...

According to Statistics Canada, contractors' selling prices for new homes decreased 0.5% between February and March, a slightly slower pace than the 0.7% decline observed the previous month. This resu...

Despite the fact that the Canadian economy likely produced the worst quarterly contraction on record in the first quarter of 2009, it managed to add 35,900 jobs in April. This is quite remarkable (and...

Employment in Canada rose by an unexpected 35,900 in April, contrary to forecasts for a 50,000 jobs lost. This increase interrupted five straight months of job cuts totaling 357,000. The unemployment ...

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts decreased to 117,400 units in April from 146,500 units in March, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The seasonally adjus...

Employment grew by 36,000 in April, the result of an increase in self-employment. Despite this increase, overall employment has fallen by 321,000 since the peak in October 2008. The unemployment rate ...

Canadian Building permits rose by a whopping 23.5% in March, halting five consecutive monthly declines. The report was mainly pulled higher by demand coming from the non-residential side, which rose 4...

In the depths of the current recession, Canadian real GDP contracted a further 0.1% in February, the seventh consecutive monthly decline. While this isn’t good news, this drop was much calmer than the...

Canada's February GDP report continues to indicate a weak economy with the release showing a seventh consecutive month of decline. However, some optimism can be gleaned from the fact that the most rec...

According to Statistics Canada, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) rose 0.3% last month compared with February, due to both the depreciation of the Canadian dollar against the US dollar and inc...

Real gross domestic product edged down 0.1% in February. Economic activity has declined by 2.4% since October 2008. A 19% rise in motor vehicle and associated parts manufacturing in February was not e...

Canadian retail sales pressed ahead in February rising 0.2% increase in retail sales. Forecasters were looking for a 0.3% dip in sales. However, the rise reflected increasing prices; the volume of sal...

According to Statistics Canada, retail sales rose 0.2% in February after rising 1.8% in January. “This comes, after the last few months of 2008 saw retail sales declined at a record pace. To some exte...

Canadian headline inflation decelerated at a much quicker pace than expected in March. On a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, Canadian consumer prices were down 0.3% in March. Prices have now fallen for...

The March consumer price report showed a slightly smaller than expected monthly increase in unadjusted prices of 0.2%, which resulted in the annual inflation rate dipping to 1.2% from 1.4% in February...

The core rate of inflation rose more than expected in March coming in at 0.3%, higher than the 0.2% expected. The CPI number came in at 0.2%, below the 0.3% expected. The upward pressure on the Consum...

Manufacturing shipments rose a solid 2.2% in February, the first monthly increase in seven months and bettered market expectations of a 2% rise. Expectations had been earlier buoyed by indications tha...

Canada's international trade balance was revitalized in February, rising from a deficit to a surplus of $125 million. This was a nice breath of fresh air for markets which were expecting the trade def...

Canada shed 61,300 jobs in March, contracting for the fifth consecutive month, and the national employment rate rose to 8.0%. Employment for core-aged workers (25-64) continues to plunge, and full-tim...

Employment in Canada fell by 61,300 in March, a slightly bigger decline than forecasts for a 50,000 jobs loss. This was the fifth month of job cuts which totaled 357,000, the bulk of which occurred in...

Canada's merchandise trade balance managed to move back into surplus in February, albeit barely so, rising to $0.1B from a downwardly revised deficit in January of $1.2B, previously reported as $1.0B....

Merchandise exports and imports both advanced in February following three months of rapid declines. Exports rose 5.2% to $33.1 billion as all sectors increased and auto makers resumed production. Mean...

Employment declined by 61,000 in March, all in full-time work. This decrease pushed the unemployment rate up 0.3 percentage points to 8.0%, the highest rate in seven years. Since peaking in October 20...

Canadian housing starts exceeded expectations for the month of March, coming in at nearly 155,000 units while the consensus forecast called for 130,000 units. This marked the first monthly increase in...

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), housing starts in Canada were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 154,700 in March. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban...

Canadian housing starts rose in March to a 154,700 annualized rate. The market was looking for starts to slow to a 130,000 unit pace, while RBC expected a modest pop to 141,000. February's level was r...

Employment, CPI, Capacity Utilization and Industrial production are impacted by an increase or decrease in PMI activity. “PMI is a closely watched figure for signs of future economic growth. Stronger ...

Statistics Canada said the value of building permits fell 15.9% t0 $3.7 billion in February. The largest decreases came from the non-residential sector in Ontario. In residential sector, the value of ...

Having already received data on January's heavy job losses and deepening manufacturing slump, Canada's ongoing economic contraction through the month is no surprise. Nonetheless, the 0.7% decline in r...

The GDP report for January confirmed that the significant weakening in Canada's economy in late 2008 continued into 2009 with the economy contracting by an as-expected 0.7%. The weakness built on Dece...

Real gross domestic product declined 0.7% in January following decreases of 1.0% in December 2008 and 0.7% in November 2008, Statistics Canada said today. Economists had expected to see a decline of 0...

According to Statistics Canada, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) rose 0.4% last month compared with January, due to both the depreciation of the Canadian dollar against the US dollar and incr...