The bizarre case of a restaurant so popular it needs to close early underscores a pervasive issue facing restaurants in Canada: A labour crunch.

Canadian consumer confidence recorded its sharpest weekly decline since the depths of the pandemic, with inflation and a deteriorating outlook for housing weighing on sentiment.

China’s economy is paying the price for the nation’s COVID Zero policy, with industrial output and consumer spending sliding to the worst levels since the pandemic began and analysts warning of no quick recovery.

U.S. consumer sentiment declined in early May to the lowest since 2011 as persistent concerns over inflation dimmed Americans’ views on the economy.

Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle said borrowing costs need to rise quickly to more normal levels to bring inflation back to target, and that the current policy interest rate of 1 per cent is “too stimulative.”

Two of Canada’s top investment bankers voiced concern that the rising interest rates that have already dragged down asset values from stocks to cryptocurrencies could plunge the global economy into a recession.