We expect further declines in 2006 and subsequent years as pent-up demand is fulfilled and as interest rates rise over the medium term.

We expect the overnight rate to reach 4 per cent by April, and 4.5 per cent by the fall of 2006.

The No. 1 threat for Canada going forward is the U.S. dollar.

For consumer spending to be sustained at any meaningful pace you need a more substantial improvement in payrolls.

The unemployment rate stood at 6.1 per cent in November - the lowest rate since mid-2001. The return to higher growth in 2006 should allow the annual unemployment rate to decline slightly in that year.

A very solid number, indicating that manufacturing is continuing to expand.

We are seeing the prices-paid component getting up there, a fairly strong number, which I think will likely heighten the Fed's concern on the inflation front.

When you take (the report) alongside all the other indicators, particularly the purchasing managers' survey, it confirms the economy is indeed in recovery.

I think the pass-through has been much quicker than it has in the past.