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Inflation rate is lowest in 56 years – overall consumer price increase is a healthy 1.8%

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Canada’s annual inflation rate slid to the lowest level in 56 years last month, dropping more than expected for the second straight month to set overall prices 0.9 per cent lower than last year, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.
The fall on a month-to-month basis was even more dramatic, as prices in July [...]

Harmonized sales levy is the lesser of tax evils

It isn’t often that political leaders take policy actions they know will be highly unpopular. The decisions by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell to harmonize the provincial sales tax with the federal goods and services tax are rare shows of political courage.
The unpopularity of harmonized sales tax (HST) arises almost entirely [...]

Consumers becoming more confident

Consumer confidence edged slightly higher in Canada in July, according to a survey by the Conference Board of Canada.
More importantly, confidence didn’t go down. The July increase, while small, was the fifth month in a row for a rise, from the worrisome depths reached last winter.
The Conference Board’s index climbed a marginal 0.8 points to [...]

Dollar puts retailers on the spot

The volatile loonie is throwing yet another wrench in many retailers’ playbook at a time when they can least afford it – and the situation could get worse in the months ahead.
Retailers are already feeling the pressure to keep prices low as cash-strapped consumers hunt for deals in the economic downturn.
Up until the financial storm [...]

Retail banks pass on rate cut

Canada’s big retail banks swiftly moved to match the 50-basis-point cut the Bank of Canada made to its benchmark interest rate.
Within minutes of the Bank of Canada decision on Tuesday, the Bank of Montreal appeared to be the first chartered bank to follow suit, announcing that it would be cutting its prime lending rate to [...]

Bankruptcies jump 10%, pace expected to quicken

It’s a predictable pattern in any downturn: house prices fall, unemployment goes up and, then, personal bankruptcies surge. But this downturn already has broken the mould, with the number of Canadians falling into serious financial straits rising faster and earlier than expected.
For the 12-month period ended November, 2008, personal bankruptcy filings are up 10 per [...]

The new consumer: Tight-fisted and ‘emotionally fragile’

The new year has only just been rung and we are here to reveal what the 12 months ahead look like for the Canadian consumer. In a word: Thrifty. Yes, that sounds like the hallmark of Canadian consumerism.
But this is different.
In a report to be released today, The Boston Consulting Group has found that while [...]