The vast majority of the news on the U.S. housing market is of the encouraging variety. Starts are way up and prices for both new and existing homes are climbing nicely. In fact, the major problem facing the sector now is a lack of supply. Realizing that prices are on the rise, homeowners are reluctant to list their properties. They’re waiting for prices to rise even further. This is especially true when the current value of the home is still less than the outstanding mortgage. It’s easy to understand how homeowners in such circumstances are eager to escape from being “under water”.

Canada needs continuing good news from the U.S. economy. Matters on the domestic front have taken a step backwards.

Citizens of countries other than the U.S. have become accustomed to viewing events in Washington and shaking their heads. The political gulf between the two parties – which, by the way, is also reflected in the country as a whole – appears enormous. Put in simplistic terms, it’s the tax-and-spend Democrats versus the slash-and-downsize Republicans. The latest dispute over sequestration and across-the-board government spending cuts threatens to seriously harm an economy that has otherwise been showing definite signs of improvement. We might well ask, “What are they thinking?” But we shouldn’t be too quick to judge. Canada has its own gaping philosophical lines of division.

The following are Economic Nuggets “ripped” from the latest data releases and media headlines.

North American’s major stock market indices are showing that the current level of economic risk has become more acceptable. The improvement in the outlook is providing an incentive to buy equities.

The U.S. fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) result was a shocker, but it comes with a lot of qualifications.

Much of the Canadian economy is dependent on commodity prices. They have a big impact on the foreign trade balance. And they are a key determinant of the mega project investments initiated by resource sector owners. Due first to the recession, then to the subsequent slower-than-usual improvement in the world economy, most commodity prices have been flat for the past couple of years. That gives rise to an important question for the construction industry. What’s the outlook for resource projects?

The following are Economic Nuggets “ripped” from the latest data releases and media headlines.

When entering a new year, it’s natural to look back over the previous twelve months and review what transpired. What we’ll be examining in this article is 2012 construction starts.

I’ve often written about the importance of trade to the Canadian economy. Exports of goods and services as a proportion of GDP are nearly one-third. A figure that’s often quoted by the media – although it seems low to me – is that one in five jobs in Canada depends on international sales.

The following are Economic Nuggets “ripped” from the latest data releases and media headlines.

The expectation finally became the reality for total Canadian home starts in October. They dropped to 204,000 units seasonally adjusted and annualized from the previous month’s level of 224,000 units, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). There are several implications for Canadian home starts arising from the U.S. Presidential election results.

The world economy is continuing to muddle through. There’s little doubt it’s a struggle. Sometimes the latest economic numbers look great. Sometimes they look like we’re heading back into the tank. The media seems to relish the uncertainty. To be fair, news outlets (of which the company I work for is one) has to report the data it receives. But one has to wonder if there isn’t a bias towards negativity, because that’s what attracts the interest of readers. Optimism is boring. Doomsday scenarios titillate. Lets look at some examples.

The following are Economic Nuggets “ripped” from the latest data releases and media headlines.

Defying all the naysayers, the U.S. economy continues to move forward, albeit with painstaking caution. Two sectors always set the tone for the overall economy – housing and automobiles. Both are on upward inclines. Previous “Economy at a Glances” have set out the improvement in residential markets. Permits, starts and prices are all climbing. The inventory of unsold vacant properties is falling. In this article, though, let’s look more closely at what’s happening in the auto sector both north and south of the border.

The following are economic nuggets “ripped” from the latest data releases and media headlines.