Economics Newsletter – Week of December 6, 2021

Our final newsletter of the term! New employment data, contest results, and more!

Written By: Amit Shteyer & Peter Robertson

Canada’s Economy at a Glance

Economics Society News, Events, and Articles 

UWES News

Congratulations to our three stock contest winners! Stay tuned for next semester’s contest.

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News and Noteworthy

Canada’s central bank appears more concerned with job creation than about inflation

Almost four decades after Mulroney won the elections by focusing on jobs, the Bank of Canada and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland agree jobs and the economy are more important than fear of inflation. Read more.

Canadian economy is strong despite inflation, Freeland argues during finance committee appearance

The Finance Minister argues that the Canadian economy survived and weathered COVID better than other countries, despite claims about inflation. Freeland attempts to get the pandemic relief bill, which is meant to extend certain pandemic benefits, through the House of Commons at this committee while facing scrutiny from opposition. Read more.

As immigrants pour in, wages stagnate in surging Canadian economy

Canada started welcoming foreign workers and students again after a break during the pandemic, with over 1.9 million immigrants in the past 5 years. Although companies are able to fill job postings, less labour shortages to use as leverage leads to very small wage increases. On average, wage increases are 2% while inflation is at around 5%. Read more.

Canada added 154,000 jobs last month, pushing jobless rate down to pandemic low of 6%

Employment data released by Statistics Canada last week strongly exceeded expectations. Canada added 154,000 jobs for the month of November, meaning the unemployment rate fell from 6.7% to 6%. This is the lowest unemployment rate seen since the start of the pandemic. Read more.

Canada not in midst of housing bubble: Former housing and mortgage head

The former CEO of CMHC Evan Siddall recently explained in an interview with CTV that he believes Canada’s housing market is not a bubble. He believes the rise in prices are simply a product of large increases in demand that could be mitigated by increasing the housing supply. Read more.

Politics not to blame for inflation: former Bank of Canada governor

Former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz recently explained in a Global News interview that the recent rise in inflation is not a result of anyone on the political spectrum. He believes that despite the rise in inflation, the economic recovery policy introduced in Canada has largely been successful and that now is the time to ensure new policy is focused on economic growth. Read more.

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