Higher rates have bitten
Canada's unemployment rate continued to rise last month, ticking up to a 22-month high at 5.8 per cent, according to Statistique Canada.
The Canadian economy is still adding jobs, but this hasn't been nearly enough to keep pace with the population explosion.
This is an issue that Australia, too, will likely grapple with in 2024.
In Europe, inflation has suddenly vanished, with the inflation rate crashing far lower than expectations down to just 2.4 per cent across the Eurozone, following a -0.5 per cent reading for the past month.
The next move in interest rates will therefore almost certainly be down for the ECB, to below 4 per cent.
In the US, Federal Funds futures are pricing close to 125 basis points of cuts in 2024 (with an 80 per cent chance of a cut as soon as March).
That's approximately 100 basis points more than was the case a month ago, with a sub-4 per cent policy rate priced in before the end of 2024.
It almost makes you wonder what markets know about the potential (or otherwise) for a soft landing that we don't...
Of course, there's an equivalent risk that such a rapid loosening in financial conditions prevents inflation ever getting back down to 2 per cent.
No matter what, it's going to be an eventful year ahead!
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The Aussie dollar has surged about 3½ cents higher against the US dollar over the past 5 weeks, to 67.7 per cents, which should help in the fight to bring inflation down faster.
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Sydney rents have really surged back rapidly over the past couple of years, according to Domain's latest quarterly rental report:
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