Economic Indicators

Signs of the times

Manufacturing employment in Canada, as in the United States, is on a downward trend, despite the fact that in 2007, the proportion of employed people in Canada was at its highest level in at least three decades, while the national unemployment rate sank to a 33- year low of 5.8%. Despite job losses, retail trade […]

By Staff |October 1, 2008

1 min read

Who’s next?

Dominos keep falling. It started with Bear Stearns, then Fannie and Freddie got bailed out. Then came Merrill Lynch and Lehman, and then another bailout. This time AIG, followed by rumours of other merger deals. It’s strange to watch one of the most laissez-faire administrations in U.S. history resort to hard-core Keynesianism to prevent a […]

By Philip Porado |October 1, 2008

2 min read

Expect inflation, oil to rise in wake of bailout: Rubin

The proposed $700 billion rescue of Wall Street by the U.S. government will help avert a meltdown in the world’s financial system but will ultimately lead to higher inflation and higher interest rates, according to a new economic forecast from CIBC World Markets. “While the cost of taking another path will never be known, the […]

By Mark Noble |September 23, 2008

2 min read

Analysts see little spillover from Wall St. woes

With two Wall Street giants falling, and a third apparently on the brink, Canadian investors are casting a wary eye toward their domestic financial institutions. But analysts say Canadian banks should be able to avoid the trouble of their American counterparts. Much of Canada’s capital markets are intimately tied to the “Big Five” Canadian banks, […]

By Mark Noble |September 15, 2008

4 min read