The only piece of economic news out of North America today is about Canadian building permits. Although construction intentions cooled off in August, the industry is still doing very well.

Statistics Canada says municipalities issued $4.1 billion worth of permits, down 13.4% from a revised level of $4.7 billion in July, which was a record high.

Permits for housing declined 8.3% to $2.6 billion, halting three straight monthly gains. Intentions fell for both single- and multi-family dwellings.

At the same time, the value of non-residential building permits plunged 21.1% to just under $1.5 billion, again with declines in all three components — industrial, commercial and institutional. July’s value had been the highest in the last 14 years.

Despite the overall decline in August, the value of building permits, a leading indicator for construction activity, was 3.8% higher than the average monthly level in 2002, an exceptional year.

Meanwhile, investors are entering the first week of the third-quarter earnings season in a hopeful mood.

It was a huge sigh of relief on Friday when the U.S. Labour Department reported job creation for the first time in eight months. In Canada, the major report of this week is our September unemployment data. It’s due out Friday.

Friday’s news boosted the equity markets The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 84.51 points at 9,572.31. The Nasdaq advanced 44.35 points to 1,880.57 for a 4.9% gain on the week. The S&P 500 index was up 9.61 at 1,029.85. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index slipped 21.83 points to 7,519.59, but still advanced 1.2% on the week.

This morning’s futures trading is showing that Friday’s rally still has some steam. In Asia, the reaction was positive, too.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average ended up 115.76 points, or 1.09%, at 10,709.29 points. Major banks UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial all rose on growing signs of a recovery. Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares ended at a fresh 16-month high.

The news isn’t as good from Europe. In London, at midday, the FTSE 100 stock index is flat at 4,272.5. In Frankfurt, the DAX index is down 14.16, or 0.4%, to 3,404.84. In Paris, the CAC40 index has declined 7.4 points, or 0.2%, to 3,288.96.