http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/http://mediaserver.fxstreet.com/images/fxstreet-provider-logo1-en.gif7http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-02-07.htmlTopic of the week Canada is one of the rare countries where employee and employer contributions to the public pension system serve to finance pension funds. The funds generate income that serves to pay for current pensions. In measuring total government debt in Canada, the positive net worth of the public pension system is taken into account. This contributes to lower total government debt and to confer to Canada a mark of distinction in this regard. In response to the declining number ofTue, 07 Feb 2012 08:55:24 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-02-07.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-01-31.htmlCanada - Retail sales rose 0.3% in November, topping consensus expectations. Excluding autos, sales were still up 0.3%. Gains in sales of gasoline, clothing, health/personal care more than offset declines elsewhere. The gasoline share of total retail sales jumped to 12.8%. However, this did not hinder sales of discretionary items (i.e., total retail sales excluding groceries, health/personal care products, and gasoline), which increased 0.4% for a fourth consecutive monthly advance. In realTue, 31 Jan 2012 09:12:47 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-01-31.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-01-24.htmlTopic of the week Quarterly economic accounts are not available for eight of the ten provinces. Monitoring the economic situation in these provinces requires consulting a host of economic indicators released with varying time lags. To remedy this problem, we developed a provincial economic momentum index that aggregates the monthto- month percent change in six seasonally adjusted monthly economic indicators. This instrument is particularly useful in evaluating the current economic performanceTue, 24 Jan 2012 09:03:21 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-01-24.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-01-17.htmlTopic of the week Residential investment in the United States has been at an anemic level for the past three years. Oversupply in the resale market attributable to a flood of foreclosuresand sluggish sales have left but a very small window open for the new-home market. However, the resale market is showing promising signs at present. On the supply side, listings are at their lowest level in six years and the flow of foreclosures coming intothe market has narrowed, a trend that should endureTue, 17 Jan 2012 09:48:43 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-01-17.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-01-10.htmlCanada In December, total employment added 17.5K jobs after shedding 18.6K in November. Losses in full-time jobs (-25.5K) were amply offset by gains in part-time jobs (+43.1K). The goods-producing sector rose 18.5K after increasing 25.2K the previous month. In this sector, manufacturing (+30.4K) and agriculture (+5.7K) were the top performers. The services-producing sector (-0.9K) remained essentially unchanged. In this sector, the top and worst performers were, respectively, professional,Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:55:56 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2012-01-10.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-12-26.htmlCanada Canada – In October, retail sales increased 1.0%, double the consensus forecast. The result was all the more impressive coming as it did on the heels of a 1.0% advance in September. Sales were up in 7 of 11 retail industries. Motor vehicles and parts sales jumped 2.0% after springing 3.3% the month before. Excluding this last segment, retail sales rose 0.7%, with the largest gains registered by clothing and clothing accessories stores and gasoline stations (+1.8%). The month’s worstMon, 26 Dec 2011 17:23:38 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-12-26.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-12-20.htmlCanada In October, manufacturing shipments fell 0.8% with 13 of the 21 manufacturing industries slumping. A 4.3% decrease in petroleum and coal products was the main driver of the decline, but several other sectors slipped as well, including transportation equipment (-0.6%) led by autos and the volatile aerospace category (-9.7%). In volume terms, shipments were down 0.9%. The inventory-to-sales ratio rose to 1.33, its first increase in four months. The contraction in shipment volumes does notTue, 20 Dec 2011 09:30:07 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-12-20.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-12-12.htmlCanada In November, housing starts in Canada decreased sharply to 181.1K units from an upwardly revised 208.8K in October. Urban starts fell to 158.9K from 185.7K the previous month. Rural starts sank to 22.2K from 23.1K. Single-family starts increased 3.6% to 63.6K while multiple starts plunged 23.3% to 95.3K. On a regional basis, urban starts pulled back hardest in Ontario (-30.6% or -22.0K) and Saskatchewan (-26.8% or -1.9K) while pressing forward most in P.E.I. (+57.1% or +0.4K) andMon, 12 Dec 2011 15:29:35 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-12-12.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-12-07.htmlTopic of the week Conditions in the 2000s were highly conducive to keeping inflation in Canada in check. Over this period, strong service inflation was offset by very weak goods inflation. The massive influx of cheap Asian imports and the loonie’s sharp ascent contributed to curb the progression of the Canadian consumer basket. What’s more, the federal government did its bit as well by cutting its sales tax twice from 2006 to 2008. To our eyes, however, things have now changed. China isWed, 07 Dec 2011 08:51:36 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-12-07.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-11-29.htmlCanada – In September, retail sales increased 1.0% after rising 0.6% in August. Sales were up in 9 of 11 retail industries. Motor vehicle and parts dealers saw sales spring 2.8% after registering a 1.2% gain in August. Excluding this subsector, retail sales advanced 0.5% with the strongest push coming from sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores (+1.7%) and from electronics and appliance stores (+1.2%). The month’s worst performers were furniture and home furnishings stores (-0.5%) andTue, 29 Nov 2011 15:34:27 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-11-29.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-11-24.htmlSummary In its Monetary Policy Report released in October, the Bank of Canada estimated there was material excess capacity in the labour market based on the high unemployment rate and the proportion of involuntary part-time workers. Among the G7 countries, Canada has posted the best performance in terms of total employment since 2007. What’s more, the quality of the jobs created has been spectacular, as a high proportion of these have been full-time and for the most part in sectors recognizedThu, 24 Nov 2011 10:07:35 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-11-24.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-11-14.htmlCanada – In September, Canada’s merchandise trade balance was back in the black for the first time since January, pegging in at C$1.25 billion. Consensus expectations were for more red ink. Moreover, a revision of the previous month’s numbers saw the August deficit contract slightly. Contributing to this surprising return to surplus was a surge in exports (+4.2%) and a simultaneous retreat in imports (-0.3%). Energy was the big driver behind the advance in exports with an 11.3% increase.Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:30:52 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-11-14.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-11-07.htmlTopic of the week We defined a concept of discretionary expenditures and measured these all the way back to 1959 for U.S. households. Discretionary expenditures are by definition those that are most easy to differ to a later date in times of recession. In other words, they are particularly cyclical. Our data allow us to cover the seven past recessions. The latest is the one that was followed by the slowest recovery, as it took real discretionary expenditures nine quarters to return to theirMon, 07 Nov 2011 23:04:31 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-11-07.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-31.htmlCanada Further data was released this past week suggesting that, like the United States, Canada did not slip into recession in Q3. In August, Canadian retail sales grew0.5%, surpassing consensus expectations. The upside surprise was attributable to auto sales, which grew 1% despite the drop in new vehicle unit sales announced in an earlier Statistics Canada report. Even excluding autos, sales growth remained robust at +0.4%. Gasoline was a major driver (+1.9%) but there was decent input fromMon, 31 Oct 2011 22:52:06 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-31.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-24.htmlTopic of the week As of this Wednesday’s publication, the Teranet – National Bank House Price IndexTM will be extending its coverage from 6 to 11 metropolitan areas. Victoria, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Quebec City are being added while the Greater Toronto Area will be split in two according to the Toronto and Hamilton census areas. In addition, the Ottawa area is being expanded to cover Ottawa-Gatineau. The new national composite index, which will go back to March 1999, is not much different fromMon, 24 Oct 2011 22:27:46 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-24.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-17.htmlUS: Historically, investment in equipment and software has been strongly correlated to employment in the United States. However, in the ongoing recovery, the rebounds in these two indicators stand in stark contrast to one another. The fact is that, even if investment has registered a solid rebound, when depreciation is taken into account, we note that the capital stock has essentially stagnated since 2008 in the United States. Consequently, businesses have not favoured physical capital at theMon, 17 Oct 2011 22:22:08 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-17.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-10.htmlCanada: The labour market bounced back sharply in September, after the disappointment in the prior month. The 61K net job gains allowed the unemployment rate to fall two ticks to 7.1% despite an increase in the participation rate. The job gains were primarily in the services sector (+54K), while the goods sector added only 7K jobs, as cuts in manufacturing offset gains in construction and the resource sectors. Full time employment rose 64K while part-time employment fell 3K. While the overallMon, 10 Oct 2011 01:13:54 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-10.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-03.htmlCanada – While some commentators have been suggesting that Canada could go into a technical recession in Q3, that scenario is now looking highly unlikely. With July GDP expanding 0.3%, Canada is now on track for growth of around 2% annualized in the third quarter. Besides the expected strength in manufacturing and wholesaling, other sectors put in a decent performance in July, notably utilities and hospitality services. Those more than offset weakness elsewhere, including the drop inMon, 03 Oct 2011 15:39:50 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-10-03.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-09-26.htmlTopic of the week To counteract the effects of the recession, Canadian authorities launched a host of construction projects, not to mention a home renovation tax credit. Moreover, new residential construction was stimulated by monetary policy. Consequently, it is not surprising that, unlike the other goods-producing industries, construction has more than made up the jobs lost during the recession. From here to the end of 2012, though, public administration construction spending will diminishMon, 26 Sep 2011 22:29:15 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-09-26.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-09-19.htmlTopic of the week Recently published statistics on the national balance sheet accounts showed that the ratio of household debt to personal disposable income (PDI) in Canada attained a new record highin 201Q2 and has surpassed the level observed in the United States since the start of the year. In our opinion, this indicator does not lend itself well to such an international comparison owing to the significant differences between the social safety netsof the two countries. At first glance, PDIMon, 19 Sep 2011 16:01:13 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-09-19.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-09-12.htmlCanada – Just as we had anticipated, Canadian employment lost ground in August, giving up 5.5K net jobs on the month instead of adding 21K as per consensus. As a result of the pullback, the largest since September 2010, the unemployment rate inched up 0.1% to 7.3% despite a drop in the participation rate. Private-sector employment fell (-21K) after spiking the month before (+94.5K), with construction shedding nearly all its astonishing gain of July. At the regional level, results were mixed,Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:13:58 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-09-12.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-09-06.htmlSummary  • We examined four indicators of wage growth in Canada. • The timeliest of these is average hourly earnings based on the LFS. Since the recession, this index has pointed towards moderate growth in wages on a year-over-year basis, which even slowed to 2% in May and June, if not lower if we use our in-house version of the index with employment fixedweighted per industry and province. • Average hourly earnings based on the SEPH, which in our view is an index constructed on dataTue, 06 Sep 2011 16:27:52 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-09-06.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-29.htmlSummary In the September 2011 Monthly Economic Monitor, we explain our downward revision of global economic growth in 2011 and 2012, particularly as regards the United States. Obviously, this has an impact on our outlook for the Canadian economy. As a result, our economic growth forecast for 2011 has been reduced from 2.9% to 2.4% for 2011 and from 2.5% to 2.1% for 2012. In 2011, the central provinces, that is, Quebec and Ontario, are the ones that will most suffer the consequences of theMon, 29 Aug 2011 19:25:11 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-29.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-22.htmlCanada Manufacturing shipments shrank for the third month in a row with June’s worse-than-consensus 1.5% contraction. Factory weakness was broad-based with 15 of 21 industries receding. While inventories stayed flat in nominal terms, they continued to grow in real terms, so much so that the inventory-to-shipments ratio rose to its highest level in an expansion phase since 2002 (whether in real or nominal terms). In volume terms, shipments fell 1.6%, which is sure to weigh heavily on June’sMon, 22 Aug 2011 15:32:48 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-22.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-15.htmlCanada In July, after a strong performance in the first half of the year, Canadian housing starts showed no sign of letting up, springing 4% to a better-than-consensus 205.1K units (from a downwardly revised 196.6K in June). All gains were in the multiples segment (up 13% to 120.2K), while single-family starts gave back some of the ground made the previous month, retreating 7.8% to 65K. Across the country, British Columbia posted the sharpest increase in urban starts (though it did not make upMon, 15 Aug 2011 15:40:25 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-15.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-08.htmlCanada In July, total employment increased 7.1K after gaining 28.3K in June. Full-time jobs jumped 25.5K while part-time jobs fell 18.4K. Employment in the goodsproducing sector grew 17.1K, compared with 3.3K the month before. Within this sector, construction led the charge (+30.8K) and natural resources brought up the rear (-11.3K). The public sector shrank 71.5K, with educational services losing 30.0K jobs and health care and social assistance shedding 39.4K. The service sector retreatedMon, 08 Aug 2011 21:15:55 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-08.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-01.htmlCanada  In May, Canada’s GDP retreated 0.3%, confounding the consensus expectation of a 0.1% advance. The stunning 5.3% drop in output in the mining, oil and gas sectors weighed heavily on the month’s results (top chart), but weakness was observed also in construction and manufacturing, albeit to a lesser extent. Indeed, goods sector output shrank 1.6% with the service sector providing little counterweight, swelling a mere 0.2% on gains in wholesale, retail, finance and real estate. TheMon, 01 Aug 2011 16:39:07 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-08-01.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-07-25.htmlCanada The Canadian merchandise trade balance registered a deficit of $814M in May, edging lower from April’s $857M deficit. Exports increased by 1.2% to $36.9B. The increase was led by industrial goods and materials (+$360M or 4.0%), machinery and equipment (+$291M or 4.8%) and automotive products (+$182M or 3.9%). The energy sector experienced the largest decline (-$343M or -3.7%) on the back of falling prices. Imports also advanced, rising 1.1% to $37.8B on the month. Imports from JapanMon, 25 Jul 2011 15:37:51 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-07-25.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-07-04.htmlCanada Canada – In all 28.4K new jobs were created in June, following a 22.3K increase in May. Part-time employment increased significantly (+21.1K) though fulltime employment a little less so (+7.3K). The goodsproducing sector edged up slightly (+3.3K), following a loss (-14.9K posts) the previous month. Within the goods-producing sector, manufacturing (+5.3K) was the top performer while utilities (-4.0K) lagged. Job creation in the services sector (+25.1K) accounted for 88% of the new jobsMon, 04 Jul 2011 22:16:37 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-07-04.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-06-20.htmlCanada In April, retail sales increased 0.3% in after dipping 0.1% in March. Sales advanced in 6 of 11 retail industries. Motor vehicles and parts sales jumped 1.7% for a second consecutive monthly increase. Excluding this segment, retail sales were flat, with the biggest push registered by furniture and home furnishings stores (+3.2%) and miscellaneous stores (+0.6%). The worst performers on the month were building materials and garden equipment (-2.8%), sporting goods, hobby, book and musicMon, 20 Jun 2011 23:19:22 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-06-20.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-06-13.htmlCanada – In May, total employment sprang 22.3K after surging 58.3K in April. All gains were in full-time jobs (+32.9K) while part-time jobs waned (-10.6K). The goodsproducing sector slipped 14.9K after sliding 11.3K the previous month. Utilities turned in the best performance (+7.0K) while manufacturing brought up the rear (-22.5K). The service sector advanced by 37.2K headed by trade (+34.4k) and information, culture and recreation (+14.5K); educational services posted the worst showingMon, 13 Jun 2011 16:31:27 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-06-13.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-06-09.htmlCanada – In 2011Q1, real GDP in Canada grew an annualized 3.9% after registering a downwardly revised increase of 3.1% in 2010Q4. Real final domestic demand slowed to an annualized 2.3% after bolting ahead 4.8% the previous quarter. Personal consumption expenditures edged up only an annualized 0.2% after pushing forward an unsustainable 4.4% the quarter before. Gross fixed capital formation surged 12.0%, with both residential investments (+9.4%) and non-residential investments (+13.6%)Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:48:32 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-06-09.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-30.htmlSummary From 1999 to 2010, the share of exports in value terms accounted for by commodities grew 42% to just over 64%. Over this period, not only the share of exports accounted for by finished goods decreased, these exports also decreased in value terms. Until 2007, this decline reflected the impact on export prices of the Canadian dollar’s appreciation against the greenback. Since 2007, it has derived instead from a generalized drop in export volumes owing to the economic recession. From 1999Mon, 30 May 2011 14:43:10 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-30.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-24.htmlCanada – The main events on the economic calendar this week on this side of the border were release of the April CPI and March retail sales reports. In April, headline CPI inflation stayed flat at 3.3%. Core CPI dipped to 1.6% year over year from 1.7% one month earlier. On a seasonally adjusted basis, headline CPI was up 0.3% from the previous month and core prices rose 0.2%. Four out of eight major components were up on the month (s.a.) led by transportation (+1.0%) and shelter (+0.5%).Tue, 24 May 2011 19:12:14 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-24.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-16.htmlSummary There was likely a surfeit of freehold starts in Canada in 2010. However, as homebuilders have lowered their sights in the past several months, starts in this segment should decline 11% in 2011. Instead, there does not seem to have been an excess of multiple-dwellings starts in 2010. Consequently, this segment could hold at the same level in 2011. Overall, there should be 174000 housing starts in 2011, down 9.2% from 2010. In Toronto, the number of unoccupied new dwellings is very lowMon, 16 May 2011 21:04:09 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-16.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-08.htmlCanada: In April, total employment surged 58.3K after dipping 1.5K in March. Most of the gains were in part-time jobs (+41.1K) but full-time jobs (+17.2K) progressed as well. The goods-producing sector retreated 11.3K following four consecutive monthly advances. Meanwhile, the service sector bolted forward 69.6K led by finance,insurance, real estate and leasing (+18.7k) and business, building and other support services (+17.2K).The unemployment rate inched down to 7.6% from 7.7% the previousSun, 08 May 2011 22:19:33 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-08.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-02.htmlSummary Despite the adoption of austerity budget measures, the market’s fears about the possibility of a default in the euro zone have begun mounting again and are presently at a high. Based on the price of 5-year default swaps and assuming a 40% recovery rate, the market is estimating the likelihood of default at more than 70% for Greece and at more than 40% for Ireland and Portugal. However, recent sovereign defaults demonstrate that this commonly used 40% recovery rate seems overlyMon, 02 May 2011 21:04:29 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-05-02.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-04-25.htmlCanada – In March, headline CPI inflation sprang to  3.3% from 2.2% in February. Core CPI rose sharply to 1.7% year over year from 0.9% the month before. On a seasonally adjusted basis, headline CPI was 0.8% higher and core prices climbed 0.5% from a month earlier. The price increase was broad-based, with 7 out of 8 major components up on the month. Core goods CPI registered its strongest March advance in more than 20 years. Despite the high-flying Canadian dollar, core goods CPI was backMon, 25 Apr 2011 16:22:06 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-04-25.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-04-18.htmlSummary Profit margins based on net income will most likely continue to rise over the current calendar year. Though there is no denying that current margin levels are high, cyclical economic conditions suggest that further increases are to be expected. Selling prices are rising faster than costs of production; in a period of expansion this implies that margins will expand. In addition, capacity utilization rates will continue to rise, thus keeping unit costs of production from escalating tooMon, 18 Apr 2011 19:44:54 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-04-18.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-04-11.htmlCanada – In March, total employment remained practically unchanged (-1.5K) after rising 15.1K in February and 69.2K in January. The goods-producing sector was up (+19.1K) for a fourth consecutive monthly progression. However, the service sector shed 20.5K jobs, owing essentially to heavy losses in trade (-19.9K). Across the country, eight of the ten provinces posted gains, led by Ontario (+5.6K) and B.C. (+3.5K). Quebec was the worst performer on the month (-14.7K). The unemployment rateMon, 11 Apr 2011 18:53:32 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/info@nbc.ca (National Bank of Canada)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/weekly-and-economic-letter/2011-04-11.html