Here are five things you need to know this morning
Surprise jump in GDP: The Canadian economy showed surprising strength in the third quarter. Gross domestic product rose at a 2.6 per cent annualized rate, according to Statistics Canada. That’s the fastest pace of growth since the end of last year, and more than offsets a 1.8 per cent decline in the second quarter. Investment in residential structures drove growth higher, rising at a 6.7 per cent annualized pace, driven by housing resales. Government investment expenditures were another major contributor to the rebound, as Ottawa boosted spending on weapons systems. That led government capital spending to rise 12.2 per cent. The loonie jumped in trading against the U.S. dollar immediately following the report. The data makes it even less likely the Bank of Canada will cut interest rates at its next meeting.
Assessing Carney’s pipeline plan: Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a sweeping energy plan Thursday with the province of Alberta that paves the way for a new oil pipeline, a massive carbon capture project and the construction of nuclear power for data centers. The plan is aimed at reducing Canada’s economic dependence on the U.S. and is meant to “unlock the full potential of Alberta’s energy resources” while creating “hundreds of thousands of new high-paying careers for Canadians,” Carney’s office said in a news release. However, there are still questions about the path forward for a project, including opposition from some Indigenous and environmental groups, as well as B.C. Premier David Eby.
Alberta raises GDP forecast: Meanwhile Alberta has lifted its 2025 gross domestic product forecast. The province now expects GDP to rise by 2.1 per cent this year, while 2026 growth is expected to moderate further to 1.8 per cent. Alberta’s budget update also signals lower borrowing needs compared to the first quarter. The province’s deficit is expected to be 6.4 billion dollars for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year.
Outage at the CME: Traders were rattled this morning by a system outage at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that disrupted futures and options trading. The CME says the outage was caused by a cooling system malfunction at a data centre … but operations have been mostly restored.
Black Friday looking tepid: And today is Black Friday – traditionally the date where retailers move ‘into the black’ (or profitability) for the year. Here in Canada, there are questions about whether the ‘Buy Canadian’ trend will continue this holiday season, in the face of inflation and job losses. Overall, the holiday cheer is looking a little muted this year due to several factors, including economic concerns and shifting consumer preferences.
