Article source: ConstructConnect
It’s as if they knew. The Bank of Canada just raised its key policy-setting interest rate, the ‘overnight rate’, by 25 basis points (where 100 bps = 1.00%) to 4.75%. This was in the belief that the Canadian economy is continuing to run too hot. 2023’s Q1 ‘real’ (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) growth annualized was +3.1%, an above average result. (The annual change in Canada’s GDP over the first 22 years of this century has been +2.1%.)
But it seems likely that the at-the-time upcoming Labour Force Survey report for May would have been foremost on the minds of the BOC’s decision makers, with a worry that it would show an ongoing super-charged jobs market. They were right to be concerned. While the actual change in total employment in May was -17,000 jobs, there was a great deal extra going on behind the scenes.
