OTTAWA -
The bad news continued to mount Monday with new reports showing the average Canadian was about $14,000 poorer at the end of 2008 while business activity plunged to a new low as the recession entered its darkest period so far.
Statistics Canada said household wealth fell a massive $252 billion - or 4.4 per cent - at the end of 2008. On a per capita basis, the average individual worth fell to $165,300 from $179,300 in the second quarter. With stock prices having fallen since, the likelihood is that net household worth has also continued to shrink.
As well, the agency said industries operated at 74.7 per cent of their capacity during the period, the lowest utilization rate since it began keeping records more than two decades ago.
But if it's darkest just before dawn, some economists are wondering if the same can be said about the current economy.
Amid the rubble, they are detecting what U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke called the odd green sprout that could presage the coming of the economic spring.
"We've seen some progress in the financial markets, absolutely," Bernanke said in a rare television interview broadcast Sunday night.
"I do think we will get it stabilized, and we'll see the recession coming to an end probably this year."
Bernanke also said he believed the United States is no longer in danger of falling into a depression, good news for Canada, since a recovery south of the border is believed to be a prerequisite for recovery north of the border.
Several reports in Canada have also suggested that while the economy is not yet at the point of turning the corner, the news in the past week or so has been less bleak.
The most encouraging sign has been in investor confidence. After hitting multi-year lows, North American markets staged a mini-rally in the past week, with the Toronto exchange recording five consecutive days of advances.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index finished up 83.32 points Monday at 8,386.71, a pick-up of almost 11 per cent from March 9.
Even the bad news contains the odd nugget of hope. House prices fell 9.2 per cent and sales were well down 27 per cent in February, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association, but the month's resale market was better than January.
Equally, the U.S. industrial production drop for the month of 1.4 per cent was less than the 1.9 retreat of the previous month.
