Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem spoke for the first time since January's job blowout report came out last week and stated that the economy remains overheated. He left the door open to higher interest rates and stated that the tightness in the labor market needs to ease, wage growth needs to moderate, and service price inflation needs to cool, or more interest rate hikes will be needed.
Bank of Canada Hikes Interest Rates to 4.5%
On January 25th, the Bank of Canada hiked its key interest rate to 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years, and became the first major central bank to say it would likely hold off on further increases. Macklem reiterated the bank's policy stance in opening remarks to the committee.
Canada Adds 150,000 Jobs in January
Canada added a massive 150,000 jobs in January, ten times expectations, data showed last week.