Author: Consultant

Monday December 8

China foreign reserves, trade surplus, aggregate yuan financing new yuan loans

Japan real cash earnings, real GDP and bank lending

Germany industrial production

Earnings include: Toll Brothers Inc.

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Tuesday December 9

Japan machine tool orders

Germany trade surplus

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey for October.

Also: U.S. Fed meeting begins

Earnings include: AutoZone Inc.; Ferguson Enterprises Inc.; Groupe Dynamite Inc.

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Wednesday December 10

China CPI and PPI

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. employment cost index for Q3. The Street expects a rise of 0.9 per cent from Q2 and up 3.7 per cent year-over-year.

(9:45 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada policy announcement with Governor Tiff Macklem’s press conference to follow.

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. budget balance.

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Fed announcement and summary of economic projections with Chair Jerome Powell’s press briefing to follow.

Earnings include: Lennar Corp.; Major Drilling Group International Inc.; Synopsys Inc.; TerraVest Industries Inc.; Transcontinental Inc.

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Thursday December 11

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s merchandise trade balance for September.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s national balance sheet and financial flow accounts for Q3.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Dec. 6. Estimate is 215,000, up 24,000 from the previous week.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. goods and services trade deficit for September.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. wholesale inventories for September.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. quarterly services survey for Q3.

Earnings include: Adobe Systems Inc.; Broadcom Inc.; Costco Wholesale Corp.; Dollarama Inc.; Empire Co. Ltd.; Lululemon Athletica Inc.

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Friday December 12

Japan industrial production

Germany CPI

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s capacity utilization for Q3.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian building permits for October.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s wholesale trade for October.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian new

Avid PC Optimum points users might be wondering what will become of the loyalty program as EQB Inc. plans to take over PC Financial from Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and become the exclusive financial partner of the loyalty program. Loblaw spokeswoman Catherine Thomas assures loyalty program members will continue to be able to earn, hold and redeem points as usual and that their points will not be affected.  She also said the PC Optimum app will not change.  EQB Inc., the company behind the online-only EQ Bank, is buying PC Financial from Loblaw Cos. Ltd. for $800 million in shares and cash. Loblaw will continue to own and operate the PC Optimum loyalty program.  EQB chief executive Chadwick Westlake says PC Financial customers will also not see any immediate changes as the deal awaits regulatory approvals.  He says the bank will communicate with customers about how it will integrate the two brands and what users can expect from their everyday banking products after the deal is approved. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2025.

A key inflation measure was lower than expected in September, the Commerce Department said Friday in a report delayed by the government shutdown that gives a further green light for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, indicated a 0.2% monthly rise while the annual rate was 2.8%. The monthly rate was in line with the Dow Jones consensus, but the annual level was 0.1 percentage point lower.

In addition, headline PCE increased 0.3% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate also at 2.8%, according to the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. Both of those readings were in line with expectations.

Federal Reserve officials use the PCE price index as their primary policy tool for inflation. While officials look at both measures, they generally consider core a better indicator of longer-term inflation trends.

The report was put off several weeks by the government shutdown, which had caused a halt to all data collection and economic reports.

Canada’s unemployment rate once again defied expectations and fell to a 16-month low in November as a solid gain in part-time jobs boosted the number of people employed for the third time in a row, data showed on Friday.

The unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points in November to 6.5 per cent, the lowest since July 2024, Statistics Canada said, adding it was led by 53,600 net job gains in November mainly among youth.

The job gains were driven by a 63,000 net additions in part-time work force linked to healthcare and social assistance sector, Statscan said.

With three months in a row of job gains, the Canadian economy has now added 181,000 new jobs since September, offsetting an almost no change in jobs for the first eight months when U.S. tariffs and trade uncertainty choked hiring.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast employment to reduce by 5,000 jobs in November and the jobless rate to tick up to 7 per cent.

The improvement in unemployment rate was also helped by a reduction in total labour force as immigration curbs instituted by the government sent less people into the job market.

Canada’s unemployment rate had been steadily climbing since March, when U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed a raft of tariffs on critical sectors such as steel, aluminum, cars and every other industry that did not comply with a free trade deal.

https://charts.theglobeandmail.com/zssR9/2

The impact has been more acute among the youth, or those aged between 15 and 24 years.

But November and October were the outlier. Employment in this category was up by 50,000 in November, and with October, these were the first jumps in youth employment since the start of the year, Statscan said.

Economy was on stronger footing heading into trade war, Statscan revisions show

The youth unemployment rate fell 1.3 percentage points to 12.8 per cent in November, following a slight decline in October. In September the youth unemployment rate had peaked at a 15-year high.

Employment among the core-aged group, which account for two-thirds of the total labor force, was little changed in November.

The average hourly wage of permanent employees – a gauge closely tracked by the Bank of Canada to ascertain inflationary trends – stayed at 4 per cent in November, same as the previous month.