> # Continued job losses months on end - Unemployment rate of 7.1% ! I wouldn't get too hung up on that -- historically that's a fairly decent rate for Canada.

> # Continued job losses months on end - Unemployment rate of 7.1% ! I wouldn't get too hung up on that -- historically that's a fairly decent rate for Canada. For a variety of reasons (difference in the way the rate is measured, and structural differences between the two countries) Canada's unemployment rate has generally been several points higher than the US since the late-70s. At least one analysis I've seen of the structural differences pinned the higher rate on the fact that unemployed Canadians were more likely to be seeking to return to the workforce than US counterparts, inflating the number since they don't "drop out" of the workforce entirely. edit: and the low dollar is a mixed bag. Higher basic good prices, but somewhat of a protective for middle-class manufacturing jobs.