The total value of building permits decreased 4.1% to $9.1 billion in December, following a month during which several high value permits were issued. Declines were reported in every component except single-family dwellings. Gains in seven provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador, were largely offset by a significant decrease in Ontario (-13.2%).

All three non-residential components—commercial (-9.0%), industrial (-24.4%) and institutional (-6.1%) buildings—reported declines as the overall sector fell 10.8% to $2.7 billion in December.

Four provinces recorded a decrease in the value of non-residential permits. Ontario (-30.5%) posted the largest decline, following a significant increase in the province in the previous month. Excluding Ontario, the value of non-residential permits rose 8.6% in the rest of the country. Newfoundland and Labrador reported its highest value on record ($175 million), which was almost entirely due to a $171 million permit for renovations to a hospital in the city of Corner Brook.

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Advance International Trade in Goods
The international trade deficit was $82.5 billion in December, down $3.0 billion from $85.5 billion in November. Exports of goods for December were $133.4 billion, $5.9 billion more than November exports. Imports of goods for December were $215.9 billion, $2.9 billion more than November imports.

Advance Wholesale Inventories
Wholesale inventories for December, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $650.4 billion, up 0.1 percent (±0.4 percent)* from November 2020, and were down 1.8 percent (±0.9 percent) from December 2019. The October 2020 to November 2020 percentage change was unrevised from the preliminary estimate of virtually unchanged (±0.2 percent)*.

Advance Retail Inventories
Retail inventories for December, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $624.1 billion, up 1.0 percent (±0.2 percent) from November 2020, and were down 5.8 percent (±0.5 percent) from December 2019. The October 2020 to November 2020 percentage change was revised from up 0.7 percent (±0.2 percent) to up 0.8 percent (±0.2 percent).

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In the week ending January 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 847,000, a decrease of 67,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 14,000 from 900,000 to 914,000. The 4-week moving average was 868,000, an increase of 16,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 3,750 from 848,000 to 851,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent for the week ending January 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate. The previous week's rate was revised down by 0.1 from 3.6 to 3.5 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 16 was 4,771,000, a decrease of 203,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 80,000 from 5,054,000 to 4,974,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,998,000, a decrease of 106,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 21,500 from 5,126,250 to 5,104,750. 

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Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 (table 1), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 33.4 percent.

The increase in real GDP reflected increases in exports, nonresidential fixed investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), residential fixed investment, and private inventory investment that were partly offset by decreases in state and local government spending and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased (table 2).

The increase in exports primarily reflected an increase in goods (led by industrial supplies and materials). The increase in nonresidential fixed investment reflected increases in all components, led by equipment. The increase in PCE was more than accounted for by spending on services (led by health care); spending on goods decreased (led by food and beverages). The increase in residential fixed investment primarily reflected investment in new single-family housing. The increase in private inventory investment primarily reflected increases in manufacturing and in wholesale trade that were partly offset by a decrease in retail trade.

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