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US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke used a meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming to reveal four “unconventional” policy options the Fed could use to lift the US economy out of the doldrums. The first move planned by the Fed is to return to a more aggressive form of quantitative easing by purchasing more debt.

Bernanke noted that the Fed has “the tools to help support economic activity and guard against disinflation”, but each policy option contains its own form of risk and would be used only if the outlook worsened further.

Statistics Canada reported today that the Canadian economy grew by 0.1 percent in May. A jump in the cost of oil and gas was mostly responsible for the increase. Most other areas of the economy were flat, or actually lost ground, including construction which fell 1.6 percent, while the services industry declined 0.1 percent.

Sales of existing homes fell significantly in several parts of the country in May, resulting in an 11.3 per cent decrease in the output of real estate agents and brokers. It was the fifth consecutive monthly decline in this industry.