RBC Canadian Inflation Watch

Slowing inflation in June sets the table for a July rate cut from Bank of Canada

July 16, 2024 |Claire Fan and Abbey Xu

The latest Business Outlook Survey largely confirmed further normalizing in a few key areas that the central bank has deemed critical to future inflation trends.

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Proof point: Rental housing construction picks up in Canada but will it be enough?

Proof point: Rental housing construction picks up in Canada but will it be enough?

July 03, 2024 |Rachel Battaglia
There hasn’t been this much rental housing under construction in Canada in a generation—which is encouraging news given the acute supply shortages across the country. But even more construction will be needed as rental demand continues to rise rapidly...
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Gen AI: Is Canada ready?

June 20, 2024 |Pascal Dessureault

Gen AI holds the potential to get Canada’s economy growing again through accelerated innovation and productivity. The big question is whether Canadian businesses and public sector organizations will seize the moment.

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Bank of Canada set to make the first interest rate cut of easing cycle

June 04, 2024 |Nathan Janzen and Claire Fan
Evidence has continued to build that the current high level of interest rates is no longer needed. All ducks appear to be in a row for the Bank of Canada (BoC) to kick-start the policy easing cycle and lower the overnight rate by 25 basis points to 4...
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Proof Point: A weaker Canadian dollar won’t necessarily derail BoC interest rate cuts

Proof Point: A weaker Canadian dollar won’t necessarily derail BoC interest rate cuts

May 01, 2024 |Nathan Janzen and Claire Fan
Proof point: The timing and magnitude of interest rate cuts from the Bank of Canada will be determined by domestic economic and inflation conditions and not the gap in monetary policy with the U.S. Federal Reserve or the value of the Canadian dollar....
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How lowering the number of non-permanent residents will impact Canada’s economy

How lowering the number of non-permanent residents will impact Canada’s economy

April 05, 2024 |Nathan Janzen
Federal government efforts to limit non-permanent resident arrivals will likely slow the pace of gross domestic product growth in 2025 and beyond. However, per-capita GDP, the unemployment rate, broader inflation pressures, and interest rate expectations...
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BoC holds rates steady in March

BoC holds rates steady in March

March 07, 2024 |Claire Fan, Economist, Royal Bank of Canada

The Bank of Canada (BoC) held the overnight rate unchanged for a fifth consecutive meeting, extending a pause that started after the last hike in July last year. 

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Proof Point: Weak productivity is threatening Canada’s post-pandemic wage growth

February 28, 2024 |Nathan Janzen
Canadian wage growth has been unusually high, but looks more modest when measured against surging inflation and relative to acute labour shortages earlier in the pandemic recovery. Now lagging productivity in Canada (along with a softening labour market...
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End of the correction? Canada’s housing market is warming up

End of the correction? Canada’s housing market is warming up

February 14, 2024 |Robert Hogue
It may be the unusually mild weather or the modest drop in fixed mortgage rates since November—or both—but Canadian house hunters have more energy this winter. Importantly, they’re landing more deals. Home resales in Canada increased for the second month...
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U.S. labour market ended the year with strength

U.S. labour market ended the year with strength

January 05, 2024 |Claire Fan, Economist, Royal Bank of Canada
US labour market data ended 2023 with strength. Payroll employment was up 216k in December while the unemployment rate held at 3.7% after declining to that level the prior month. As was the case for much of the year, the employment gain in December was...
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