A couple of minor economic releases are out today, but economists are looking forward to tomorrow’s jobs report to get a handle on what the Bank of Canada will do with interest rates next week.

This morning it was reported that Canada’s new housing price index rose 0.5% in August, following two consecutive 0.3% increases. “Beneath the headline number, the house component rose 0.7% while the land only component was up 0.3% during the month,” reports RBC Financial. “On an annual basis, the house price index is up 4.7%, within the range it has been centred in over the past year. On balance, the annual growth rate is not worrisome, and is indicative of a strong but healthy and generally balanced housing market.”

Also, investment in non-residential building construction by governments and businesses showed a fifth straight quarterly gain to $6.6 billion. “However, the growth of 2% from the second quarter was generally the result of an all-time high in institutional investment in conjunction with a solid showing in the industrial sector,” RBC says.

It says that the weak state of commercial construction remains a concern. It dropped 0.5% in the third quarter. “The post-bubble hangover in high tech has likely kept the office market awash in excess capacity. With double-digit office vacancy rates lingering in most major urban areas of Canada, the sector is not likely to see much of a turn around until next year,” it says.

But these reports won’t have much impact on the Bank’s decision on interest rates. Tomorrow’s trade and labour reports are the last major releases left before that decision. “The Bank’s decision will not be an easy call,” says RBC. “Another sharp decline in jobs would mark the third month in a row employment had dropped putting pressure on the Bank to ease. But a strong payroll number could presumably send the Canadian dollar even higher, which would also add to expectations of easing, largely because the Bank would have little to fear from doing so on the inflation front given that a rising Canadian dollar could put more dampening pressure on core prices.”

RBC predicts the Bank of Canada to stand pat on rates, on the expectation that the U.S. recovery will be enough to boost Canadian growth.