The Bank of Canada has released the results of it’s latest quarterly survey of business sentiment. And the mood is up. Optimism about future sales hit its highest level in two years, and there are higher expectations for investment and hiring. The survey also suggests business sees inflation in the 2% to 3% range – the upper end of the Central Bank’s desired target – but other indicators, like capacity pressures and labour shortages, don’t appear to be inflation drivers. That leaves the Bank with more latitude when it comes to adjusting rates.
The markets had to wait until today to respond to Friday’s disappointing employment numbers out of the U.S. Having a few days to digest the figures doesn’t seem to have given investors a chance to get over the let down. All of the major North American markets tumbled. The Good Friday jobs report showed the U.S. economy created just 120,000 new jobs in March. Expectations had been for 205,000, raising worries about the health of the U.S. economic recovery.
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