U.S. Federal Reserve officials said Wednesday that inflation has fallen further toward their target in recent months, but signalled that they expect to cut their benchmark interest rate just once this year. The policymakers’ forecast for one rate cut was down from a previous forecast of three, likely because inflation remains persistently elevated. In a … Read more
The housing market could soon get “interesting,” economists say, as home prices and sales start to edge up, according to a pair of new reports released Friday. In its latest quarterly Home Price Update and Market Forecast, Royal LePage is forecasting that the aggregate price of a home in Canada will increase nine per cent in the fourth … Read more
Premier Andrew Furey said the carbon tax doesn’t incentivize people to switch to renewable energy because the infrastructure to make that shift possible isn’t yet established in Newfoundland and Labrador. (Ted Dillon/CBC) Premier Andrew Furey shared an open letter Tuesday addressed to the prime minister, asking him to pause an upcoming increase to the carbon tax … Read more
U.S. consumer prices increased more than expected in January amid rises in the costs of shelter and health care, but it likely won’t change expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates in the first half of 2024. The consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.3 per cent last month after gaining 0.2 per cent in December, … Read more
The Bank of Canada says record levels of immigration are driving up the cost of housing and recent government efforts to cut the number of non-permanent residents and encourage home building will help lower housing costs, but “only gradually.” “In the short term any increase in population, particularly in an environment of constrained supply, is going … Read more
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says he’ll be scrutinizing the number of international students and other non-permanent residents coming into Canada, as political tension builds around the interplay between housing affordability and immigration. In an interview airing Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live, Miller said the relationship between housing and immigration is complex, and it was discussed around … Read more
