OTTAWA, Ontario – The economic downturn which has spilled into Canada from the United States could last longer and hit harder than first thought, some analysts are now saying.
There may be light at the end of the bleak economic tunnel now facing Canadians. It could easily be this fall — or even later — before the economy begins to regain its footing, Toronto Dominion Bank economists warned in a report Thursday.
That’s later than previous predictions by TD analysts — and many others — who expected an economic recovery to emerge by summer.
Instead, unemployment could climb towards 7.5 per cent by this autumn from the current 6.9 per cent — a rate that could seriously rattle vital consumer confidence, said Don Drummond, TD’s chief economist.
He added the recovery could be further delayed since it takes at least six months for interest rate cuts to be felt in the economy.
