Geoff Cowling

Seasonally-adjusted Canadian retail sales fell by 1.2% in October to $50.9 billion, driven by lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers. Retail sales were down in 8 of 11 sub-sectors, representing 81% of retail sales. Regionally, 6 of 10 provinces reported declines in October, led by Ontario (-2%), Quebec (-1.7%) and Saskatchewan (-1.7%). In contrast, increases in retail sales were reported in Manitoba (1.1%) and Alberta (0.4%).

In B.C., seasonally-adjusted retail sales fell by 0.9% to $7.1 billion in October, driven by a decline in home furnishing sales and sales in sporting/hobby/books/music. Vancouver also reported a monthly decrease of 1.9% in sales. Compared to the same time last year, B.C. retail sales were down by 0.7% in October.

Vancouver, BC – December 12, 2019. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 6,616 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in November, an increase of 27.5 per cent from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $746,939, an increase of 5.5 per cent from November 2018. Total sales dollar volume was $4.94 billion, a 34.4 per cent increase from the same month last year.

"After several months of strong gains, home sales are now firming around long-run averages," said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. "We expect 2020 will be a much more typical year for markets compared to the volatility of recent years."

MLS® residential active listings in the province were down 6.6 per cent from November 2018 to 31,310 units, and down for a seventh straight month on a seasonally adjusted basis. Overall market conditions remain balanced with a sales-to-active listings ratio of 21 per cent.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 6 per cent to $50.23 billion, compared with the same period in 2018. Residential unit sales were 3.9 per cent lower at 72,106 units, while the average MLS® residential price was down 2.2 per cent year-to date at $696,574.

Canadian employment decreased by 71,000 jobs in November, led by Quebec (-45,000), BC (-18,200) and Alberta (-18,000). This brought the national unemployment rate up from 5.5% in the previous month to 5.9% in November. November's decline was largely driven by private-sector employment, while self-employment and public-sector employment was little changed. Most of the decrease was reported in manufacturing (-28,000), natural resources (-6,500) and in public administration (-25,000). Compared to the same month last year, Canadian employment is up 1.6%.  

Employment in BC fell by 18,200 jobs in November, completely wiping out the previous month's gain. The decline was driven by full-time employment (-20,500), which more than offset gains in part-time employment (2,300). By Industry, employment losses were generally broad-based. In contrast, employment was up in finance/insurance/real estate/leasing. The provincial unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 5%. Compared to one year ago, employment in BC is up by 0.7% (18,100) jobs.  

The BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) fell slightly to 135.3 in the third quarter of 2019. The index remains unchanged compared to the same time last year.

Provincial economic activity continued to slow in the third quarter of 2019, with declines in retail and manufacturing sales more than offsetting a gain in wholesale trade. This left the economic activity component of the CLI negative for the fifth consecutive quarter. Office employment was up for the fifth consecutive quarter, edging out a decline in manufacturing employment, which resulted in a positive change in the employment component of the CLI. The financial component of the CLI was positive for a third straight quarter. The underlying trend in the CLI has been relatively flat over the past five quarters, suggesting a stable environment for commercial real estate activity in the province.

Following several years of robust growth, the BC economy continues to slow in 2019. Weak manufacturing sales in petroleum and coal, and lower retail sales at gasoline stations and auto dealers, put a drag on economic activity in the third quarter. Wholesale trade sales were positive in the third quarter due to a large expansion in machinery and equipment.

Employment growth in key commercial real estate sectors such as finance, insurance, real estate and leasing continues to be strong, up by 7,600 jobs in the third quarter. This measure of office employment now sits at an all-time high, signalling strong future demand for office space. In contrast, manufacturing employment fell by 4,200 jobs from the previous quarter.

The CLI’s financial component was positive in the third quarter due to an increase in benchmark Canadian REIT prices, which more than offset the expansion of short term credit spreads.

The Bank of Canada held its overnight rate at 1.75 per cent this morning. In the statement accompanying the decision, the Bank noted that there is evidence that the global economy is stabilizing and that US recession concerns are waning, though trade conflicts remain the biggest threat to the Canadian economy.  The Bank expects modest growth in 2020 and for inflation to closely track its 2 per cent target.

With many central banks around the world lowering their policy rates,  why is the Bank of Canada holding firm? Simply, the Bank judges the potential of lower rates igniting a further accumulation of household debt as a greater risk to the Canadian economy than the risk from deteriorating global economic conditions.  Canadian policymakers have committed to bending the curve on the Canadian household debt-to-income ratio, through a combination of higher interest rates and stricter mortgage policy.

 Balanced against the goal of restraining debt, the Bank sees the risk of a further disruption in global trade as manageable.  The outlook for Canadian economic growth is roughly in line with trend growth for the economy and inflation is expected to be well tethered to its 2 per cent target. As long as that outlook holds, we expect that the Bank will remain on the sidelines in 2020.