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house prices are falling, gold prices are rising, and therefore before you go ahead and buy a house, you should probably consider whether you’d be better off buying gold instead.

Weak business confidence coming out of the global credit crisis is playing a major part in keeping jobless rates at painful levels – U.S. unemployment is nine per cent while Canada is stuck above 7.5 per cent in large part because companies are wary of hiring long-term.

Canada’s employment-services industry is mostly temporary staffing along with permanent placements and contract staffing, according to Statscan. Revenue has climbed steadily in the past decade, and employment in the sector has jumped six per cent in the past year alone, to 158,000 people.

But as the industry grows around the world – staffing firms are expanding in Europe and in emerging markets such as India and China – there’s an intensifying debate over the merits of an increasingly fluid work force. Proponents say it helps both employers and workers be nimble in globally competitive markets; opponents argue it’s part of a shift toward precarious, lower-pay work.

Canada's jobless rate is projected to be 7.7 per cent this year, down from the 2010 level, and will ease gradually to 7.4 per cent in 2012, 7.2 per cent in 2013, and 7 per cent in 2012, Toronto-Dominion Bank economists said Tuesday in a new forecast.

Noting Canada's stronger-than-expected economic growth to date, TD economists said in a new quarterly report that they expected more modest growth for the rest of this year and next. "The end to federal government stimulus remains a wild card to the outlook in the second half of 2011," they said.

"We have incorporated a moderate drag on growth as stimulus programs are set to expire in March of this year. However, there is a risk that government spending could contract much more significantly in the second half of 2011."

The average debt load per Canadian consumer rose 4.5% this quarter over last year, according to new figures compiled by TransUnion

That works out to $1,000 per person and excludes mortgage costs.

Credit card, line of credit and auto-loan debt jumped most in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador with gains of 7.8% in both provinces. Quebec's total average debt load per consumer stood at $18,025 for the quarter. Newfoundland's was $23,372. The national average is now $25,597.

Most Canadians should be able to handle higher interest rates expected later this year, but many will still see a "financial shock," Toronto-Dominion Bank economists say

"The main question is how households will respond to the eventual rebalancing of monetary policy, TD economists Craig Alexander and Diana Petramala write in a new report that looks at indebtedness among Canadian households.

Canadians will experience a financial shock when interest rates eventually rise, but the vast majority of households should be able to cope so long as interest rates rise only gradually

Here are some facts. In this low interest rate environment, Canadians’ debt levels – including credit cards, loans and mortgages – have grown much faster than their incomes. Debt levels are now about one and a half times disposable income, an even higher level than the debt-to-income levels of Americans. Total consumer debt in Canada now exceeds a staggering $1.4 trillion. The Bank of Canada and the Finance Department have expressed concern about personal debt, specifically about what would happen if interest rates were to rise and Canadians discovered they could not afford to be carrying these debt levels.

Despite repeated warnings from Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, Canadians continue to ratchet up personal debt, leaving the country increasingly vulnerable to economic shock.

Growth in residential mortgages, the biggest single asset of all the major banks, “is continuing to be more robust,” Bill Downe, chief executive of Bank of Montreal, said in an interview.