With the world’s reserve currency now hovering at $1.25 per Canadian dollar, it’s a good time to look at how the Canadian economy is performing compared to its peers.
And there’s a lot of noise in the economy right now, with a weak U.S. recovery and an uncertain outlook for the world economy.
That’s why it’s also important to understand the fundamentals of the Canadian and U.K. economies.
Here’s what you need to know about the Canadian outlook.
1.
There’s a strong U.1Q growth forecast and more on that coming out in the next few weeks.
“We are confident that we are on track to have another solid quarter, the first since the financial crisis of 2008-09,” Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said last week.
That was the last time Canada posted positive growth before the recession.
The bank forecasts the economy will grow 2.2 per cent this year and 2.5 per cent next year, which is higher than the 2.1 per cent rate that was forecast in January.
The Bank of Montreal says the economic outlook is “stable and positive,” with a healthy and healthy housing market.
That should boost consumption, which was a key driver of the strong economy in the first half of the year.
Poloz also said the economy is on track for an uptick in manufacturing activity in the coming months.
Polos report says the Canadian business environment is improving, and business investment is picking up.
Inflation will remain low and the Canadian currency is expected to stay strong in the near term.
Polons forecast for a 2.3 per cent increase in the cost of living in the third quarter, which should help the country’s economy grow 1.6 per cent in the final quarter of the fiscal year.
The bank expects a stronger-than-expected economic expansion in 2017, with GDP growth of 3.2-3.4 per cent.
That would be below the 2-3 per-cent growth that was predicted in April.
However, the Bank of England and other economists are cautioning that they don’t see the economy expanding to that level in 2018.
Poloz says that a weaker U.2Q expansion could cause a downside shock in the fourth quarter of 2017, but that the bank isn’t worried about that happening.
Polouts forecast is that GDP growth will grow at a 2-per-cent pace in 2018 and 2 per cent pace in 2019.
While there are concerns about the economy in 2018, there are also signs of progress.
Inflation is on the rise, and the bank is forecasting that inflation will drop to around 2 per cents per dollar by 2021.
On top of that, Poloz is forecasting a healthy employment rate in 2021 and a stronger growth rate in 2022, as well as a higher GDP in 2022.
That means the Bank is predicting the economy to grow about 2.4-3 times faster in 2021 than it did in 2020, and to grow around 1.7 times faster than it does in 2019 and 2020.
This is what the Canadian GDP looks like right now:Source: Statistics Canada 2.
There are some good news stories for Canadians as well.
Bank of Canada governor Stephen Polos speaks at the Bank’s policy update on May 27, 2017 in Toronto.
It’s been a challenging time for the Canadian middle class.
The Bank has been warning for months that it’s facing a “serious challenge” to its recovery, as unemployment rose to 9.1-per cent in May and the unemployment rate is at a four-year high of 7.9 per cent, which would be the highest level since 2006.
Canada’s unemployment rate hit an all-time high of 10.3-per, the highest since the recession, and that is expected as much of the economy slows down and companies lay off workers.
The unemployment rate will likely remain high at or above 9 per cent until at least 2020, which could help boost the economy, but there’s little doubt that the economy has been weakened by the financial meltdown.
But the Bank says there are signs that things are changing.
PolOs latest economic update says the unemployment recovery is continuing and that “the unemployment rate fell to a four year low in May.”
The unemployment figure is down from 10.2 percent in May.
Policos optimism has been bolstered by the fact that manufacturing activity picked up a bit in June, which has been good news for consumers.
Polios report says manufacturing activity grew by 2.6-percent in June.
What we’re seeing now is that we’re not seeing a contraction in manufacturing employment.
Polies forecast for GDP growth in the quarter to be 3.4 percent in 2020 and 3.7 percent in 2021, which are both much better than the 3.3 percent growth that the Bank was expecting in 2020.
Polsons report also suggests that the unemployment numbers will fall as