Canadian inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.7% in October year-over-year, up from the previous month's increase of 0.5%. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose by 1.1%. Prices rose in five of eight components year-over-year in October, with food contributing the most to the increase due to rising prices for lettuce as a re...
Canadian housing starts increased by 3% m/m to 214,875 units in October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), following a decline in September. Housing starts increased in 6 of 10 provinces with strong gains in Manitoba and Alberta. Building activity gained momentum in the single-detached segment, while multi-unit starts declined slightly. O...
Canadian employment gained 84k jobs in October (0.5%, m/m), following a gain of 378k in September. This is the sixth consecutive month of increases, putting national employment within 636k of its pre-COVID February level. The national unemployment rate was little changed at 8.9%, as some provinces reinstated containment measures targeted at restaur...
The October Labour Force Survey, released this morning by Stats Canada, showed an employment increase of 83,600--well below the 378,000 gain in September and average monthly gains of 395,000 over the past six months (see chart below). Several provinces tightened public health restrictions last month in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases. These m...
The BCREA Economics team has created the COVID-19 Reopening Dashboard to help REALTORS® monitor the evolution of the economy as BC navigates the recovery. This dashboard focuses on the sectors and activities that have been most significantly impacted by the pandemic and the province’s subsequent state of emergency.
Canadian real GDP grew 1.2 per cent in August, following a 3.1 per cent increase in July. That is the fourth consecutive monthly increase in GDP following the steepest contraction of the Canadian economy on record. The overall level of economic output remains about 5 per cent below its per-pandemic level.