Paul Martin's Business Update - September 4th, 2014

It seems to be harder to put aside a little money.

A quarterly report on the state of the Canadian economy provides a host of indicators that offer an insight into the way the economy as a whole and those of us who are part of it are doing.

The national economy expanded by 0.8 per cent in the second quarter, significantly higher than 0.2 per cent we saw in Q1.

Another of the indicators this report offered was savings rates. That is what is left over once the expenses are paid. And on this one personal, corporate and government savings went the wrong way. The personal rate fell to 3.9 per cent of income, down from 5.0 per cent just a few months earlier. It was also the lowest in a year-and-a-half.

This is important at a time when Ottawa and the central bank are telling us our debt levels are too high. And while it could be that we have less money for savings because we’re paying off loans more rapidly, this report says it is actually because we were spending more.

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