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RBC’s New Canadian Monthly Macroeconomic Series


This is the first edition of The Economic Pulse – a monthly series that will provide macroeconomic insights and analysis from RBC’s Chief Economist, Craig Wright and Deputy Chief Economist, Dawn Desjardins.


In this edition, we focus on the Canadian economic outlook for Q4 and into 2021. A number of factors will likely result in a more modest growth rate compared to the strong bounce back we saw in Q3.

 

Key Takeaways

1

Canada faces a number of economic headwinds including the COVID-19 second wave, sluggish global economic growth and less accommodative policy.

2

The Canadian consumer is the key to driving economic growth, but as the government rolls back household support, spending must be driven by job gains.

3

We continue to keep a close eye on the labour market – we expect the unemployment rate to hit 8.5% by year end down from the 13.7% peak during the recession. This bodes well for consumer spending.

 

As Chief Economist, Craig leads a team of economists providing economic, fixed income and foreign exchange research to RBC clients. Craig is a regular contributor to a number of RBC publications and is a key player in delivering economic analysis to clients and the media through the Economics Department’s regular economic briefings.

This article is intended as general information only and is not to be relied upon as constituting legal, financial or other professional advice. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. Information presented is believed to be factual and up-to-date but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by Royal Bank of Canada or any of its affiliates.