Canada: BoC and labour force survey in focus this week – NBF

According to analysts at National Bank Financial, for the Canadian markets, the highlight of the week will be the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy meeting.

Key Quotes

“With several central banks pivoting towards monetary stimulus, markets are betting that the BoC will soon jump on the bandwagon. True, the United States, China and the Euro zone are disappointing on both the economic and inflation fronts. But Canada remains in the opposite camp with positive economic surprises and higher than expected inflation. What’s more, concerns about the housing market seems to have faded as sales lately benefited from lower mortgage rates. In that context, the BoC has the luxury to wait and analyse developments on the international front before it decides whether or not it needs to pull the trigger on looser monetary policy. On Thursday, Deputy Governor Lawrence Schembri will present an economic progress report in Halifax.”

“August’s labour force survey will also be available. Although we expect job creation to have resumed in the month following two consecutive drops, the bounce back might not be that impressive. Keep in mind that no less than 225K jobs have been created in the country in the first seven months of the year, a pace that appears unsustainable in a context of growing labour shortages in several provinces. We’re calling for a modest 10K increase.”