It's jobs, not cranes

A private equity fund manager just got back from Chicago and told me he was shocked that he could not see any cranes building new buildings. I told my private equity buddy that I had heard that the signs people use to try and find patterns has changed from cranes to jobs, and a press release from Reuters reiterated this point:

Crucially, consumers in Canada and around the globe now view job creation as

the most concrete symbol of economic revival, Wright says. That stands in

contrast to the early 1990s, when the presence of construction cranes was a

key sign of economic growth.

The RBC Canadian Consumer Outlook index also found that, while 56% of

Canadians view the current state of the national economy as good, that is down

from 59% in September and 62% in May. But 48% are extremely optimistic the

economy will improve over the next year.

The November survey results will be set as the benchmark of 100 against

which future results will be compared.

-By Monica Gutschi, Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2017;

monica.gutschi@dowjones.com

Jacoline Loewen, author of Money Magnet and Managing Director of Loewen & Partners, Private Equity, Toronto.