A Tale of Two Economies:

 From the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, Feb. 2015:

• Employment was unchanged
• Unemployment rate rose by .2% to 6.8%
• More people were looking for work.
• Alberta (as we might have surmised given the oil price decline) was the hardest hit province with employment falling by 14,000 and the unemployment rate moving up to 5.3% (the highest level since 2011).
• Quebec saw the biggest gains, 17,000 (but it was all part-time)
• Manufacturing lost 20,000 jobs.
• Construction gained 16,000 and Educational Services gained 15,000.
• more here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/150313/dq150313a-eng.htm

Interestingly  what caught my eye, at the bottom of the release:

Canada–United States comparison

Adjusted to US concepts, the unemployment rate in Canada was 5.9%, while the rate in the United States was 5.5%. Compared with February 2014, the unemployment rate in Canada edged down 0.1 percentage points, while the US rate fell by 1.2 percentage points.

In February, the employment rate in Canada (adjusted to US concepts) was 62.0%, compared with 59.3% in the United States. On a year-over-year basis, the employment rate declined by 0.2 percentage points in Canada, while it increased by 0.5 percentage points in the United States.

In other words, comparing "apples to apples" (as it were),

The "headline" numbers are in fact closer than might otherwise be thought.

The US economy, growing at a faster pace and obviously  creating jobs at a faster pace than Canada, but it appears, comparatively less "grim" on the north side of the border.

Also, on the inflation/deflation front, data from the US Bureau of Labor announced that Producer Prices declined by .5%.

• Much of this a direct result of cheaper import prices as the strong $US continues to impact US economic data.
• This also reflected a "slump" in profit margins among wholesalers and retailers (not good for earnings).

• Remember that the "data dependant" Federal Reserve will be looking closely at this when they meet next week to discuss among other things, the future of monetary policy and more importantly, when to start raising interest rates.

• Finally, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was reported to have declined to 91.2 from 95.4 in February. It was expected to have remained unchanged.

Uncertainty is rising and volatility is up in the strongest economy in the world at the moment. There is a message here. We cannot be complacent.

The views expressed are those of the author, Scott Tomenson, a Raymond James Financial Advisor, and not necessarily those of Raymond James Ltd. It is provided as a general source of information only and should not be considered to be personal investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Investors considering any investment should consult with their Investment Advisor to ensure that it is suitable for the investor's circumstances and risk tolerance before making any investment decision. The information contained in this blog was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however, we cannot represent that it is accurate or complete. Raymond James Ltd. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.