Britain Balances Carefully Amid Strong Headwinds

Britain’s trade balance mitigated some of its deficit during the month of July, as reported by the Office of National Statistics. Weakness in the local currency evidently reflected on demand for exported products while in the meantime imports declined as well. Trade values were reported at -£11.76 billion, missing only slightly expectations of -£11.75 billion and leaving behind June’s deeper deficit of -£12.92 billion. The positive economic indications recently released by the UK have helped to lift up the pound while Article 50 has not yet been triggered.

Canadian unemployment edged up in August, climbing to 7.00%, continuing is light ascent from the previous month’s 6.90% while missing expectations of remaining static. As the Bank of Canada opted to leave monetary policy unchanged recently, rising unemployment may blur the image for forecasted growth rates. Adding further to the doldrums is the relatively strong Canadian dollar that is also decelerating the economy amid low oil prices - spurring Gross Domestic Product to negative values over the second quarter.