BoC rate announcement, jobs data coming this week

In the absence of significant changes to the economic picture, the Bank of Canada is expected to hold the interest rate on Wednesday, while the U.S. and Canada are also expected to report continued job growth.

National Bank is forecasting the BoC will maintain the overnight rate. After GDP grew at an annualized pace of 2.9% in Q2, the bank expects the economy to slow down in Q3. And while July’s annualized inflation rate was 3%, the BoC’s measure—which filters out some of the more volatile sectors—was 2% “and showed no sign of acceleration,” the bank said in its weekly economic report.

The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) is also calling on the BoC to keep the rate at 1.50% due to uncertainty about the NAFTA negotiations and possible new U.S. trade restrictions.

Jobs data

With the Labour Force Survey for August to be reported on Friday, CIBC is forecasting 13,000 new jobs and unemployment to remain at 5.8%, as in July. The bank expects wage growth to decelerate.

The U.S. will also report its employment numbers on Friday. CIBC is forecasting 214,000 new jobs in August, with the unemployment rate rising to 3.9% from 3.8%. The bank is also forecasting a 0.3% monthly rise in wage growth for the second consecutive month.

Read the CIBC report and National Bank report.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.