The results likely fully please almost no one. |
The thing about the quarterly figures is they're more driven by what took place at the end of the previous quarter and the start of the current quarter than what happened at end of the current quarter. These numbers tell us spending had a little more momentum heading into 2003 than the quarterly figures would indicate. |
There really can be little debate now that Western Canada is already experiencing the closest thing to full employment in over three decades, with the jobless rate west of Ontario just barely above four per cent. |
These solid results suggest that the economy actually had a fair bit of momentum heading into 2003. |
They're getting close to the end of tightening. |
This points out that the labor market remains as tight as ever. |
To some extent, the heat is off. |
Usually the incentives and the ways builders are allowed to design subdivisions to allow for extra densities sooner or later reduces that cost by a lot. |
While it's a bit of a surprise, the slightly downbeat news on confidence can be explained by the ongoing weakness in employment, and perhaps consumers are a little concerned about the backup in mortgage rates. But while they're becoming less confident, they're still buying -- the latest sales numbers still look good. |
While the economic data have been all over the place in recent weeks, there are no obvious signs that the economy is cracking in the face of record energy prices. Indeed, the export and production data have been surprisingly perky. |