Canada – Net job losses totalled 61300 in March, after 79500 full-time jobs were trimmed and 18200 part-time jobs gained. At the industry level, the headcount was down 34200 in manufacturing and 18200 in construction. The serviceproducing sector created 1300 jobs for a first increase in three months. British Columbia led the provinces in losses (-22600) by a long stretch, followed by Alberta (-14900) and Ontario (-10800). Quebec shed 4600 jobs. At the national level, the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to a 7-year high of 8.0%. Job losses have now reached 357000 since the pre-recession employment high. Although unemployment is likely to continue trending up, we see it peaking at just above 9%, as the extreme degree of fiscal and monetary policy accommodation should limit the economic downside. We still expect the North American economy to begin expanding anew before year end. Housing starts surpassed expectations in March at 154700 units. The gains were concentrated in Quebec (+23.3%) and Ontario (+35%). It was encouraging to see the first increase in this regard in seven months. However, new vacant dwellings recently climbed to historically high levels and residential building permits declined 0.3% in February, which suggests we should remain cautious about the short-term outlook. In the non-residential sector, the value of permits fell 30.5%; Ontario led the provinces in this respect. All in all, building permits were down 15.9% in February. The Canadian trade balance registered a surplus of $0.1 billion in February, after posting deficits of $1.1 billion in January and $0.4 billion in December. Exports rose 5.2% to $33.1 billion and imports 1.1% to $33 billion, accounting for the slim trade surplus.
United States – The trade deficit fell to $25.97 billion in February from $36.204 in January. This marked the seventh consecutive monthly improvement in U.S. trade statistics and brought the deficit to its lowest level since November 1999. Imports of goods and services dropped 5.1% to $152.7 billion, led by crude oil (-16.3%). Exports surprised on the upside in February with a rise of 1.6% to $126.76 billion.
Stronger farm product sales contributed to the rebound. Merchant wholesaler inventories decreased 1.5% in February while wholesaler sales grew for the first time in eight months (+0.6%). Consumer credit fell $7.48 billion in February to $2.56 trillion according to the Federal Reserve.
