(Photo Credit: Ken Teegardin)

Brazil Inflation Rate

For May, the Estimize community is expecting an inflation rate of 3.76%, which is lower than last month’s actual inflation rate of 4.08%. Estimize has been consistently more optimistic than actual values, within a quarter percentage point. The unemployment rate in April was 13.6%, a record high since the economic crisis. As of today, over 14 million Brazilians are out of work. On the bright side, Brazil’s had positive GDP growth of 1% at the start of the year, compared to the previous quarter. The turmoil brought about by Brazil’s political climate does not bode well for economic growth. Many indicators such as inflation and the unemployment rate could possibly inherit a lot of uncertainties from the political situation.

Canadian Unemployment Rate

Analysts at Estimize are expecting no change for Canada’s May unemployment rate, with a consensus of  6.5%. This week, the Ontario government introduced a series of labor reforms. For example, in order to help disabled Canadians seeking employment, the government recently called on all businesses with more than 20 employees to hire at least one additional person with a disability. One of the more controversial policies proposes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by Jan. 2nd, 2019.

Germany Balance of Trade

The Estimize community is calling for a surplus of $25 billion for April, a slight decrease from March. For the past two months, the actual balance of trade has been consistently above consensus. As the value of Euro has stabilized after the initial Brexit vote, more investments will flow into Germany and Europe, which will result in a higher surplus over the next few months.