E2 - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment

• Labor Markets, Financial Crises, and Inflation: Jobless and Wageless Recoveries*

  Staff working paper 2026-31 Guillermo Calvo, Emilio Colombi, Fabrizio Coricelli, Pablo Ottonello

  We document the macroeconomic patterns that characterize labor market recovery from financial crises. Using a sample of postwar recession episodes from around the world, we show that financial crises are typically followed by jobless recoveries, with a sluggish recovery in employment relative to output.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E3, E31, E4, E44, F, F3, F32 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting

• Tracking Heterogeneous Spending Patterns with Credit Card Microdata

  Staff analytical paper 2026-38 Jia Qi Xiao, Jackson Reid, Joey Daniels

  We present a measure of account-level credit card spending constructed using credit bureau microdata, capturing monthly spending for approximately 80% of adults in Canada. Our measure offers higher frequency than other publicly available consumption metrics, and can be disaggregated by age, geographic location and credit history.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): C, C5, C55, C8, C81, D, D1, D14, E, E2, E21, E3, E32, G, G5, G51 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Financial system regulation and oversight, Household and business credit, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting

• Time Use and Consumption Expenditures

  Staff working paper 2026-29 Daniela Hauser, Stefano Gnocchi, Laure Simon

  This paper shows that consumption activities toward which households reallocate more time in recessions see larger expenditure declines, revealing a systematic link between time-use and expenditure cyclicality. A two-sector New Keynesian model shows this time-expenditure substitution explains roughly forty percent of consumption's response to monetary policy shocks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D1, D12, E, E2, E21, E3, E32, E5, E52, J, J2, J22 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Monetary policy framework and transmission

• Monetary Policy in an AI-Driven Two-Speed Economy

  Staff working paper 2026-27 Joshua Brault, Maryam Haghighi, Jing Yang

  We analyze monetary policy responses to AI in a two-sector New Keynesian model, distinguishing augmentation and automation. Both reduce labor demand, requiring accommodation that creates inflation trade-offs. Automation worsens them. Aggregate inflation depends on AI’s form and breadth, making policy stabilization more complex and aggregate data potentially misleading.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52, J, J2, J23, O, O3, O33 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Structural challenges, Digitalization and productivity

• Seeing the Economy through Colored Glasses: Partisanship in Macro and (not in) Micro Expectations

  Staff working paper 2026-24 Adrian Monninger, Kyung Woong Koh, Tao Wang

  Households report distinctive views of the macroeconomy along partisan lines, while their expectations about personal finances do not follow the same pattern. Economic inequality remains the major contributor to polarized views of the macroeconomy. Partisan politics are simply a magnifier.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E7, E71 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Real economy and forecasting

• Measuring the AI Economy

  Staff working paper 2026-20 Anton Korinek, Patrick McKelvey

  We construct a macroeconomic estimate of total AI production in the United States, combining inference and R&D/training activities with quality adjustments to account for algorithmic progress. We then develop a nascent framework for "AI GDP" that tracks the AI economy as a coherent whole, complementing traditional national accounts.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C4, C43, E, E0, E01, E2, E22, E3, E31, O, O3, O33, O4, O47 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Digitalization and productivity

• Survey Evidence on Firm AI Adoption and its Implications

  Staff analytical paper 2026-22 Chanya Chawla, Crystal Arnburg

  This paper analyzes AI adoption among Canadian firms using December 2025 Business Leaders’ Pulse data. It finds that while personal use is widespread, operational adoption remains limited. Firms expect modest positive impacts on capital spending and small net negative effects on employment over the next three years.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E0, E2, E22, E24, O, O3, O33 Research Theme(s): Structural challenges, Digitalization and productivity

• Assessing global potential output growth: April 2026

  Staff analytical paper 2026-20 Daniel de Munnik, Kristina Hess, Walter Muiruri, Tuuli McCully, Faiza Noor, Sabreena Obaid, Andrew Plummer, Louis Poirier, Abeer Reza, Jillian Schwartz

  We present the annual update of the Bank of Canada staff estimates for global potential output growth. These estimates served as key inputs to the analysis supporting the April 2026 Monetary Policy Report.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E1, E2, F, F0, F1, O, O3, O33, O4 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply, Digitalization and productivity

• Potential output in Canada: 2026 assessment

  Staff analytical paper 2026-19 Alex Chernoff, Christopher Hajzler, Stéphanie Houle, Gabriella Ruggero, Olena Senyuta, Karanbir Sohal, Walter Steingress, Temel Taskin

  Growth in potential output is expected to drop from 2.3% in 2025 to 1.2% in 2026 given slowing population growth, US tariffs and trade policy uncertainty. It is then estimated to pick up to an average of 1.5% over 2027–29 as strengthening business and government investment supports trend labour productivity (TLP). Gradual adoption of artificial intelligence is also expected to lift TLP growth over the projection horizon.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E2, E3, E4, E5 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply

• Inflation vs Inclusion: Stabilization Policy in the Wake of the Pandemic

  Staff working paper 2026-13 Felipe Alves, Giovanni L. Violante

  As the economy emerges from a crisis, macroeconomic policy confronts a dilemma: a protracted stimulus can foster a more inclusive labor market recovery, yet risks igniting inflation that ultimately undermines workers’ welfare through real income erosion. This tension amplifies in the presence of the ZLB and aggregate capacity constraints. We embed this insight into a quantitative model of the US economy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E24, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52, J, J2, J24, J6, J64 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Monetary policy framework and transmission