Economic Indicators

Recovery in the offing, timing debatable

What was initially dubbed “The Great Recession” appears to be drawing to a close, about nine months after it was first recognized. The U.S. economic downturn, which cascaded around the globe, officially began in December 2007, but that start date was only announced a year later. It has been the longest and deepest recession since […]

By Steven Lamb |August 24, 2009

3 min read

Preparing for greenback devaluation

Rallying stock markets and the nascent economic recovery have renewed concerns about the valuation of the U.S. dollar. There is a growing perception that the greenback will likely see a pullback in value as things improve — which will impact the foreign holdings of Canadian investors. The U.S. dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency […]

By Mark Noble |August 20, 2009

5 min read

Jobless stints shorter this time around

Canadians who recently find themselves involuntarily unemployed may take comfort in the fact that the average duration of unemployment is fifteen weeks, according to a new report from CIBC World Markets. This is a marked improvement to the 1991 recession when the average duration of unemployment was 20 weeks. Moreover, the current unemployment period is […]

By Rayann Huang |August 19, 2009

3 min read

Fund manager optimism hits five-year high

The recession is not over but investor pessimism from professional money managers appears to have passed. According to the August edition of the Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers, more than three quarters of the world’s fund managers believe the global economy is poised to strengthen over the next year, marking the highest level of […]

By Mark Noble |August 19, 2009

3 min read