Media Availability - Craig Alexander Available To Comment On Latest Job Numbers and Canadian Economy

OTTAWA, Sept. 8, 2016 /CNW/ - The Conference Board of Canada's new Chief Economist, Craig Alexander, will be available to comment on the latest job numbers to be released by Statistics Canada tomorrow, as well as the current state of the economy.

Canada's economic performance has been underwhelming of late, but the outlook is more optimistic going forward. Employment growth has been lukewarm this year and labour force participation sits at its lowest level since March 1999. Trade and business investment have continued to struggle as well, leading to the broader Canadian economy experiencing an especially poor second quarter. However, the economy has rebounded nicely following the Fort McMurray wildfires in May, and U.S. economic expansion appears poised to continue over the near term.

Craig Alexander joined The Conference Board of Canada as its new Chief Economist on September 6 and will oversee the economic outlook products, tourism and custom economic research. Prior to joining the Board, he served as Vice-President, Economic Analysis at the C.D. Howe Institute and was with TD Bank Group for 12 years, where he held the post of Senior Vice President and Chief Economist from 2010 to 2015.

SOURCE Conference Board of Canada

Sean Burgess, Media Relations, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: [phone] ext. 294, E-mail: [email protected] or Juline Ranger, Director of Communications, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: [phone] ext. 431, E-mail: [email protected]