It’s a quiet week for economic news ahead of the Bank of Canada’s next scheduled interest rate announcement on January 16.

On Monday, the Bank of Canada releases its business outlook survey.

On Tuesday, The Conference Board of Canada issues its latest economic forecast, Canadian Outlook — Winter 2007.

On Wednesday, Statistics Canada releases its new housing price index figures and building permits data for November 2006.

Separately, StatsCan issues Canadian international merchandise trade numbers for November 2006.

South of the border

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reports initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 6. Economists forecast 325,000 new claims, compared with 329,000 in the previous week.

On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department releases retail sales data for December 2006. Economists forecast an increase of 0.7%, compared with a 1% rise a month earlier.

Separately, Commerce also issues business inventory figures for November 2006. Economists expect a 0.4% increase, unchanged from the previous month.

Corporate earnings

Among the companies scheduled to release earnings results are: Alcoa Inc.; Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering Inc.; Supervalu Inc.; CanWest Global Communications Corp.; Genentech Inc.; Cogeco Inc.; and Cogeco Cable Inc.