On Monday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will meet with provincial and territorial ministers of finance and treasurers. The ministers will discuss the state of the global and Canadian financial markets as well as the current economic challenges.

Flaherty alos will attend the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Finance Ministers Meeting in Trujillo, Peru, on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Thursday, Statistics Canada releases its labour force survey for October. Economists forecast a loss of 10,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to 6.2% from 6.1%.

Separately, StatsCan reports on building permits for September. A month-over-month decline of 1.5% is forecast.

U.S. and overseas

On Monday, the Commerce Department reports on U.S. construction spending for September. Economists forecast a spending drop of 0.8%.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports on factory orders in September. Economists expect a 1% drop.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labour reports on productivity and costs for the third quarter. Economists forecast non-farm productivity gains of 1%, annualized. Unit labour costs are expected to have risen 2.7%.

Separately, Labour reports on initial jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 1. Economists forecast 476,000 claims.

Overseas, the Bank of England monetary policy committee announces an interest rate decision, and the European Central Bank’s governing council releases its interest rate announcement.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labour reports on employment data for October. Economists expect non-farm payrolls to decline by 190,000 and a jobless rate at 6.3%, up from 6.1%.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department reports on wholesale inventories for September. An increase of 0.2% is forecast.

The U.S. National Association of Realtors reports on pending home sales for September. A decline of 3.7% from a month earlier is expected.

Corporate earnings

Companies scheduled to report Monday include: Catalyst Paper Corp.; Enbridge Income Fund;
Open Text Corp.; Silver Wheaton Corp.; Trican Well Service Ltd.; Home Capital Group Inc.; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.; MasterCard Inc.; and Viacom.

Companies on docket for Tuesday include: Talisman Energy ; Absolute Software Corp.; Linamar Corp.; Pengrowth Energy Trust; Gabriel Resources Ltd.; Quadra Mining Ltd.; Northgate Minerals Corp.; Riocan REIT; Swiss Reinsurance Corp.; UBS AG; and Yamana Gold.

On Wednesday, companies expected to report include: Jazz Air Income Fund; Agrium Inc; AltaGas Income Trust; Kinross Gold Corp.; Molson Coors Brewing Co.; Cisco Systems; CML Healthcare Income Fund; Domtar Corp.; Dundee Precious Metals Inc.; Enbridge Inc.; HudBay Minerals Inc.; Superior Plus Income Fund; Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.; Sunoco; and Time Warner Inc.

Companies scheduled to report Thursday include:

AbitibiBowater Inc.; Iam Gold Corp.; Imax Corp.; Canaccord Capital Inc.; Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.; Canadian Tire Corp.; Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund; Cott Corp.; Extendicare REIT; Algonquin Power Income Fund; Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.; Manulife Financial Corp.; Newfoundland Capital Corp. Ltd.; Shoppers Drug Mart Corp.; and Yellow Pages Income Fund.

On Friday, companies on the docket include: Telus Corp.; Tim Hortons Inc.; Brookfield Asset Management; Paramount Resources; Enerplus Resources Fund; Labopharm Inc; and Ford Motor Co.