Here you will find Candian Articles relating the Market Insights Community.
Recently released data on new house prices indicates quite clearly that Canada’s housing market is steadily getting warmer.
The operating rate of Canadian industries in the final quarter of 2009 increased by a record 2.2 percentage points, from 68.7% to 70.9%.
For the fifth time in the past seven months, total employment in Canada increased, according to February’s labor market report from Statistics Canada. Thanks to some job recovery, the total decline in employment in Canada now stands at 250,000 versus the previous peak. By way of contrast, the job loss picture in the U.S. may have stabilized at a very low number, but no significant gains have been made as yet. The U.S. lost 8.4 million jobs in the recession and remains stuck at that level. Something else remarkable to take note of is the relative importance of construction jobs in Canada versus manufacturing jobs.
Two recent developments point to higher interest rates in the not-too-distant future.
Driven partly by the stronger growth of profits during the second half of 2009 and sustained government spending, investment in non-residential construction and machinery and equipment is projected to increase by 5.3% in 2010.
The accompanying table records the 10 largest construction project starts in Canada in February 2010. Also included is the latest trend graph on starts. This looks at 12-month moving totals of the two major non-residential building categories in Canada − total ICI starts and engineering work. ICI stands for industrial, commercial and institutional. There are several reasons for highlighting upcoming large projects. Such jobs have often received a fair amount of media coverage. Therefore, people in the industry are on the lookout for when job-site work actually gets underway. And, as showcase projects, they highlight geographically where major construction projects are proceeding. Also, total construction activity is comprised of many small and medium-sized projects and a limited number of very large developments. But the largest projects, simply by their nature, can dramatically affect total dollar and square footage volumes. In other words, the timing and size of these projects have an outsize-influence on market forecasts.
While many have described the current recovery in Canada as sub-par and “cyclically challenged,” this view is not supported by the most recent quarterly financial statistics for corporations.
The major North American stock market indices had a jog down in January 2010, but they bounced back in February. At February’s month-end, they were 2.5% to 4.0% higher than at January’s month-end. All four indices have made back between 45% and 60% of their most recent peak to trough declines. Fourth-quarter 2009 gross domestic product (GDP) numbers for both the U.S. (+5.9% quarter to quarter annualized) and Canada (+5.0%) were very strong. But there are some significant differences between the U.S. and Canadian economies.
A recent report by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) reiterates what many have been saying for some time.
Faced with a sharp slowdown in sales and shrinking profits during the onset of a recession, firms initially attempt to cut labour costs by reducing their employees’ workweeks.
Reed Construction Data Announces The Modern Toolkit Promotion at the AGC’s 91st Annual Convention
AGC San Diego Chapter Works with Reed Construction Data’s Planroom Program
Reed Construction Data Announces New Features, Functionality on Reed Connect 3.6
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