US Service Providers Chalk Up Strongest Growth in Nine Months

Good morning. I’m pleased to be here with Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers to discuss today’s policy announcement. Governing Council decided monetary policy no longer needs to be as restrictive and lowered the policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75%. We’ve come a long way in the fight against inflation. And our confidence that inflation will continue to move closer to the 2% target has increased over recent months. The considerable progress we’ve made to restore price stability is welcome news for Canadians. Since our Monetary Policy Report in April, underlying inflation has continued to ease and economic growth has resumed. With the economy in excess supply, there is room for growth even as inflation continues to recede. Let me provide a little more detail about these dynamics. After stalling in the second half of last year, economic growth picked up in the first quarter of this year. At 1.7%, growth was lower than projected in the April report. But consumption growth was solid at about 3%, and business investment and housing activity also increased. In the labour market, businesses are continuing to hire workers. Employment has been growing, but at a slower pace than the working-age population. This has allow post: BoC’s Macklem: Timing Of Further Cuts Depends On Data, Will Be Taking Decisions One Meeting At A Time post: *MACKLEM: PATH OF INTEREST RATES LIKELY TO BE GRADUAL post: *MACKLEM: DON'T NEED TO MOVE IN LOCKSTEP WITH FEDERAL RESERVE post: BoC’s Macklem: There Are Limits To How Far BoC Can Diverge From Fed; Currently Not Close To Limits