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February 2014 Canadian Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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Canadian economy gains almost 30,000 jobs in January





OTTAWA ` The Canadian economy gained 29,400 jobs in January after a surprising downturn in December ` a turnaround that will likely put some spring in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's step as he prepares to deliver the budget next week.





The unemployment rate also slid 0.2 percentage points from December to 7.0 per cent for the first month of the year as the number of full-time jobs increased, Statistics Canada reported Friday.





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Canadian housing starts slow modestly in January





TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian housing starts fell more than expected in January, data released on Monday showed, reinforcing the view that the country's housing market is stabilizing after a recent boom.





Starts slowed to 180,248 units last month at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, a report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp showed, shy of the 184,000 forecast by economists.








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Canadians still taking on debt, but are getting better at paying their bills





Credit monitoring agency Equifax reports, including mortgages, Canadians now owe $1.422-trillion.





However, even though consumer debt levels continue to soar, delinquency rates are headed the other way.





Equifax says a check of the numbers puts the national delinquency rate, meaning bills past 90 days at a new record low of 1.12 per cent, down from 1.19 per cent from 2012.





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Planning to buy a rental property





Do your research if you're thinking of buying a rental property as an investment and to create income. Before you start looking, know how you plan to finance your purchase. You must have a down payment of at least 20% of the purchase price when buying a property that is not your main home.





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Canada charts comfortable course to budget surplus in 2015





OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Conservative government looks set to comfortably balance its books in 2015 or even sooner, its latest budget showed on Tuesday, with cuts in spending on the public service more than offsetting a series of modest new expenditures.





The low-key spending plan leaves Prime Minister Stephen Harper well-positioned to offer tax breaks and other initiatives in the runup to an election scheduled for October next year.





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Federal budget 2014 highlights





Well before Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled his budget on Tuesday afternoon, it was given many nicknames: The 'do nothing budget' and the 'stay-the-course budget' seemed to be the two most prominent terms pundits used.








The pundits were right. For the most part, Economic Action Plan 2014 was pretty bland.





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Ally

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HSBC global forecast 2014





As 2014 begins, the growth outlook for the global economy looks modest, with a rebound expected in the emerging markets and Eurozone, and a solid recovery in the US.






According to HSBC`s Global Economics Report Q1 2014, the Canadian economy can expect to, at best, keep pace with the US GDP Growth, driven by business investment and exports.





What are the biggest risks to the Canadian economy? What does this mean for your company, particularly if you are operating cross-border and overseas? What global markets should Canadian companies be looking to for diversification and future business growth?





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Ottawa launches $14 billion infrastructure fund





Prime Minister Stephen Harper fired the starting pistol on a $14-billion spending spree on infrastructure, announcing the long-awaited details on a Building Canada Fund first mentioned in last year`s budget.








Though the fund covers the next 10 years, Canada`s provinces, cities and towns will be pushing to carve up the funding as soon as possible in order to cover the cost of large construction projects like highways and transit that could run over several years.






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Condo corrections not in the cards for Vancouver, Toronto





The rental housing market has `passed it peak` but condominium investors can probably rest easy because vacancy rates will only edge up slightly, says a new report.





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Report warns of excess supply of rental units in Vancouver, Toronto





Canada`s rental market is on a downward slope but is not headed for a crash, a new report concludes.





The demand for rental units peaked nationally in 2012, according to an analysis that will be released Thursday by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce economist Benjamin Tal. Toronto hit its pinnacle in 2012, while Vancouver did so last year.






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Welcome to the 'old normal'





Remember when bond king Pimco coined the term `new normal` in the ashes of the financial crisis? Well, say hello to the `old normal.`





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Canada's most expensive streets





Bay Street in Toronto has the most expensive office rates in the country, followed by Burrard Street in Vancouver and 2[sup]nd[/sup] Street SW in Calgary, says a report by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).








`Location is everything,` says Brett Miller, president of JLL. `As the Canadian market continues to strengthen, we are seeing that companies are increasingly willing to pay higher rental rates in order to be in prestigious locations.`





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Canada's housing market still well-balanced





National home sales activity posted its fifth consecutive month-over-month decline in January 2014, show statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).





Highlights:


  • National home sales fell 3.3% from December to January.




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Frigid weather accentuates cooling house trend





OTTAWA ` Frigid weather was blamed Friday for a drop in Canadian home sales as 3.3 per cent fewer deals were struck in January compared with December ` the fifth consecutive month-over-month decline.





But BMO Capital Markets chief economist Doug Porter said the nasty weather probably just accentuated a cooling that the residential real estate market has experienced in recent months.





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CREA: January home sales up from a year ago





OTTAWA`Frigid weather was blamed Friday for a drop in Canadian home sales as 3.3 per cent fewer deals were struck in January compared with December ` the fifth consecutive month-over-month decline.








But BMO Capital Markets chief economist Doug Porter said the nasty weather probably just accentuated a cooling that the residential real estate market has experienced in recent months.





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Severe weather hampering Canadian economic recovery





Severe weather even by Canadian standards has cast a chill on the country`s economic rebound.





Canada`s real estate association reported today freezing temperatures kept prospective buyers at home last month, sending sales down 3.3 percent from December, which also saw a decline in transactions. Manufacturing sales unexpectedly dropped in December, with Krishen Rangasamy at National Bank Financial in Montreal saying weather probably contributed to the weak data.





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Canadian commercial real estate continues to outperform





TORONTO /CNW/ - The REALpac/IPD Canada Quarterly Property Index, released today, showed that Canadian commercial real estate continued to deliver double-digit performance for the year ending December 31, 2013 with a total return of 10.7%.





Importantly, over the last 12 months, real estate underperformed public equities at 13.6% (MSCI Canada Index); but outperformed bonds at -3.6% (J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index 7-10 years) and inflation at 1.2% (Statistics Canada).





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The job market paradox





Too many people without jobs. And at the same time, too many jobs without people.





It`s a paradox that ripples through a 54-page analysis of the state of Canada`s labour market released with last week`s federal budget. It`s the first time such a paper has been published with the budget, offering insights into how the Conservative government views the current jobs market and future trends.





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What $500,000 will get you in cities across Canada





In late December 2013, the Canadian Real Estate Association predicted that the national average price for a home will be $391,000 this year.





But it`s hard to compare how far your buck will go in Canadian cities using that figure, since the average prices at year`s end are so very different: $785,574 in Vancouver and $320,693 in Montreal, for instance. So we`ve found a round figure in the middle and asked, what could approximately $500,000 have bought homebuyers in various markets across the country in January?






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How Canada's new immigration rules could slow down high-end real estate deals








Canada`s luxury housing market has already been impacted by changes to immigration policy and could be in for rougher times as foreign investors are lured to the United States.





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