We have been listening to bad news about the economy long enough now that good news seems to hit us with a bit of a jolt. Can it be true? Has the economic recovery started?
Despite all the caveats in the Bank of Canada announcement today -
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090723/national/boc_economy
The bottom line and the headline are the same - the recession is over in Canada.
But just before we break out the party hats and start to sing, "Happy Times are Here Again ", let's honour the doubts we feel. Things have been really shaky. Many people have lost a good deal of the money they have saved for retirement. All around us, people who have lost jobs, people who have lost their homes. Realtors see the pain very clearly, every day, in our work in real estate.
So, what does this announcement really mean? It mean that, after three quarters of economic losses, it looks like the massive government stimulus measures are starting to work, and we are starting to climb out of the hole we have slid into over the past 9 months. The economy in Canada is now expected to grow 1.3% (annualized) in the third quarter, and 3% in the fourth quarter.
That is good news, but it will take quite a while to get back to anything resembling prosperity.
Until the news is good on the global market, we will be grateful, but we'll definitely have our fingers crossed at the same time.
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