Weekly Digest – 12 June 2024
Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.
Can a single rate cut make waves in Canada’s housing market? What to know
The Bank of Canada’s first interest rate cut in over four years on Wednesday will have a “psychological” impact on the Canadian housing market, but will likely not be enough to meaningfully improve affordability, experts say.
Missed applying for CanExport? Here’s some other funding options
The 2024 CanExport intake closed on May 31st. While we anticipate the popular program opening next year, many businesses may find themselves seeking alternative funding sources to fuel their international growth. If you missed the deadline for CanExport, don’t worry—there are several other excellent funding programs designed to help Canadian businesses succeed in the global market.
Canada’s growth challenge: Why the economy is stuck in neutral
The economic momentum that propelled the country through the 20th century has faded in the 21st, and appears to have worsened since the pandemic. Higher interest rates have slowed per-capita output since 2019, but the problems run deeper than that. Our economy is now smaller than it was in 2019 when adjusted for inflation and immigration, and pretty much in the same place it was a decade ago.
Cutting interest rates was easy. But the Bank of Canada still has a credibility problem
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says the central bank has to rebuild trust with Canadian households. After the last two years of interest rate hikes and messaging missteps, that’s not going to be an easy job.
Canada’s jobless rate rises to 6.2% in May as labour market disappoints jobseekers
Finding work has become increasingly challenging for Canadian jobseekers as a weakening economy and high interest rates push business owners to rein in hiring. Statistics Canada’s latest labour force survey Friday showed the economy added 27,000 jobs last month – too modest of a gain to keep the unemployment rate from rising by a tenth of a percentage point to 6.2 per cent.
Gas prices in Canada fall, with double-digit drop in Vancouver
Gas prices dropped an average of 5.2 cents per litre across Canada over the past week, according to pump data from nearly 80 cities. Sarnia, Ont. and Vancouver saw the largest double-digit drops.
Canada’s energy, gold exports help narrow April trade deficit
Canada posted a smaller-than-expected merchandise trade deficit of C$1.05 billion ($765 million) in April, as energy and gold helped exports grow faster than imports, data showed on Thursday.
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