The Bank of Canada is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to consider changes to the target overnight bank rate, but most observers predict it will leave the overnight rate unchanged at 4.25%.

On Monday, Canadian and U.S. markets were closed for the Labour Day holiday.

On Thursday, Statistics Canada releases building permits data for the month of July. Economists forecast a drop of 1.8% over the previous month.

On Friday, StatsCan releases its labour force survey for August. Economists forecast the creation of 20,000 new positions last month compared with a drop of 5,500 jobs in July. The unemployment rate for August is forecast at 6.3%, down from 6.4% the previous month.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve releases its periodic Beige Book, an anecdotal survey of national economic conditions.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor reports on productivity and costs for the second quarter. Economists forecast non-farm productivity gains of 1.5%, compared to 1.1% in the prior quarter. Unit labour costs are expected to grow 3.8%, compared with 4.2% in the prior period.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reports on initial jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 2. Economists forecast 312,000 claims compared with 316,000 during the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England monetary policy committee announces its interest rate decision.

Corporate earnings

The domestic earnings reports scheduled for release include Laurentian Bank of Canada on Wednesday and Agricore United, Canadian Western Bank and Descartes Systems Group Inc. on Thursday.