On Monday, Statistics Canada reports second-quarter capacity utilization rates. Economists expect a rate of 65% compared with 69.3% in the prior quarter.

On Tuesday, StatsCan releases its labour productivity report for the second quarter.

On Wednesday, StatsCan releases its manufacturing survey for July.

On Thursday, StatsCan reports on the consumer price index for August. Economists expect a drop of 0.6% from the same month last year.

Separately, StatsCan publishes leading-indicator data for August.

On Friday, StatsCan reports on wholesale trade for July.

South of the border

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports on retail sales for August. A gain in sales of 1.8% over the previous month is forecast; excluding auto sales, a 0.4% increase is expected.

Separately, Commerce releases business inventories data for July. Economists expect a 0.8% decline in inventories over June.

Also, the U.S. Department of Labour releases producer price index data for August. Economists forecast a drop of 5.4% over the same month a year ago.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Labour Dept. releases consumer price index data for August. Economists expect a drop of 1.7% over the same month a year ago, while a month-over-month rise of 0.3% is forecast.

The U.S. Federal Reserve reports on industrial production and capacity utilization for August. An output increase of 0.7% is forecast, compared with a gain of 0.5% in July; a capacity utilization rate of 69.1% is expected, up from 68.5%.

Also, the U.S. National Association of Home Builders releases its housing market index for September. The index is forecast to rise one point to 19; the previous month’s reading of 18 was the highest point since June, 2008.


On Thursday, the U.S. Labour Dept, reports on initial jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 12. Economists expect 555,000 claims, up from 550,000 the previous week.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Dept, releases housing starts and building permits data for August. Economists expect 595,000 housing starts on an annualized basis, up from 581,000 in the previous month. Building permits are expected to increase to an annualized 580,000 from a revised 564,000 in July.

Corporate earnings

On Monday, Patheon Inc. reports third-quarter earnings.

On Wednesday, tech-bellwether Oracle Corp. reports its first-quarter results.

On Tuesday, Adobe Systems Inc. reports third-quarter results.

Best Buy Co. Inc. reports second-quarter earnings, as does Kroger Co.

On Thursday, Fedex Corp. reports first-quarter results, as does Palm Inc.

IE