Paint the Town White - Signs of a Recovering Canadian Economy

After some very bleak reports in the media surrounding the world’s economic crisis, it seems that Canadian markets are finally beginning to show a bit of color. And that color is white.

Although, we consider unemployment rates, GDP and trade statistics to be common indicators of a country’s economic health, economists also track the sales of certain goods to help them understand how the economy is faring. Evidently, one of these goods is titanium dioxide, the substance that creates white paint with which manufacturers use to paint all our durable goods such as: houses, airplanes, washing machines and sky scrapers. And according to an article in the Globe and Mail, economists are beginning to note the sales of titanium dioxide pick up significantly.

This is a reassuring sign when paired with the news that Canadian housing markets are beginning to bounce back and the latest report that the IMF released about 10 days ago.
As the Globe and Mail stated regarding the Canadian real estate market last week, “…buyers are back, sales are surging, and prices are edging up.” This observation is supported by the Canadian Real Estate Association which reported nearly 150,000 houses and condos were sold between April and June, the fourth-best quarter ever since the group started recording sales data in 1994.

However, most promising has to be the latest outlook the IMF released which suggests that the world is beginning to recover from the recession and that Canada’s economy will likely surpass most industrialized nations. In fact, the IMF expects Canada’s economy to grow 1.6% in 2010, the second-best growth rate after Japan’s expected 1.7% gain!

Articles referenced:

Why economists are watching the paint dry. Paul Waldie, The Globe and Mail.

Canada’s economy set to shine on world stage: IMF. Paul Vieira, Financial Post.