The industrial sector is cruising along at a moderate but not spectacular pace, and that's a good thing at this stage of the expansion.
I'm actually encouraged by how well the economy hung in there in September and October during the worst of the energy price spikes. The bigger threat to growth is the rising interest rates.
I suspect there will be enough positive news in other areas to persuade consumers there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that the economy is moving to better times, but it will be a gradual process, and confidence may be flat in the next couple of months.
Manufacturing posted a solid rebound in December from weakness the prior month, but it is far from out of the woods.
These solid results suggest that the economy actually had a fair bit of momentum heading into 2003.
There really can be little debate now that Western Canada is already experiencing the closest thing to full employment in over three decades, with the jobless rate west of Ontario just barely above four per cent.
The renewed and rapid rise in the Canadian dollar may ultimately do much of (the) tightening for the bank, but we look for at least one more rate hike this year.
At least one spooky theme behind these moves has been mounting concern that the latest spike in energy prices will cascade into other costs and prices, drive up inflation expectations and force the Fed to be even more fearsome than expected in its tightening campaign,
I think it will improve liquidity and the attractiveness of owning Canadian financial assets, although I don't see it as a watershed event for Canadian financial markets.
They're getting close to the end of tightening.