Bank of Canada
- Business sentiment 21% vs 17% prior
- Firms’ sales outlooks are mostly unchanged from last quarter and remain more pessimistic than average
- Businesses tied to discretionary spending reported particularly weak sales expectations, while those tied to essential spending see population growth continuing to benefit their sales.
- Investment spending plans also remain below average
- The share of firms reporting labour shortages is near survey lows
- Future sales indicator -1 vs +4 prior
- Businesses expect inflation to average 2.9% over the next two years, down from 3.2% in the previous quarter and closer to the Bank of Canada's 2% target
- The share of firms planning larger-than-normal price increases has fallen to 21% for the next 12 months, down from 27% in 2023.
Firms tied to discretionary spending:
This is a red alert for the Canadian jobs market as the share of companies seeing labor shortages falls to survey lows.
Businesses expect inflation to average 2.9% over the next two years, down from 3.2% in the previous quarter and closer to the Bank of Canada's 2% target