The 10-Minute Take

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting in June marked Kevin Warsh's first as Chair—and it came with a clear shift in focus. Inflation dominated the press conference, while the labor market received minimal attention.
The changes went beyond tone. Forward guidance was removed from the Statement, the easing bias is gone, and half of FOMC participants view at least one interest rate hike as appropriate in 2026—up from a majority expecting cuts just three months ago.
In this episode of The 10-Minute Take, RBC Economics' Carrie Freestone and Claire Fan discuss:
What Chair Warsh signaled about his approach—and how it differs from Jerome Powell's.
Why current data supports a focus on inflation with core Personal Consumption Expenditures above 3% and the labor market holding steady.
How the statement shifted from an easing bias to a hawkish lean since March, and what RBC expects for interest rates through 2027.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially started with games spanning cities across North America, drawing spectators from all over the world. But as it creates buzz, it won't distract from the headwinds still facing Canada’s economy.
In Q1, gross domestic product contracted by a small annualized 0.1% to mark a second consecutive decline. However, the contraction is marginal and narrow—not the kind of sharp, persistent, and broad-based deterioration typical of recessions in the past.
The World Cup in coming months will give Canada's economy a temporary lift. In this episode of the 10-Minute Take, RBC Economics' Claire Fan and Carrie Freestone break down Canada's underlying economic trends as FIFA games gets underway.

U.S. headline inflation just posted its hottest print in nearly three years, driven by surging energy prices and sticky core inflation pressures.
At the same time, labour market data is looking solid, and growth hasn’t meaningfully slowed. We have yet to see signs of Stagflation Lite materializing, and don’t expect the oil price shock will tip the economy into a recession.
In this episode of the 10-Minute Take, RBC Economics’ Carrie Freestone and Claire Fan explain:
Whether hot US inflation is purely an energy story—or if pressures are building beneath the surface.
Why the Fed stays put even as the labour market holds up.
What it would take from a jobs’ perspective to trigger a recession in the U.S.—and why it’s unlikely.

Softening in Canada’s headline labour market data this year masks a more encouraging underlying story.
Job losses remain concentrated in tariff-exposed sectors, layoffs are declining, and hiring is beginning to rebound—all signs of resilience beneath the surface.
In this episode of the 10-Minute Take, RBC Economics' Claire Fan and Carrie Freestone discuss:
What hidden unemployment means and whether it's rising.
How "low hire, low fire" dynamics disproportionately affect younger job seekers.
Why labour supply is expected to tighten as hiring demand recovers later in 2026.

U.S. productivity growth is strong, business investment in information processing and equipment has surged, and headlines about AI replacing jobs are growing louder.
But, how much of this is actually attributable to AI and how much is noise?
Reality is nuanced. We’re still largely in the building out phase of AI investment, and it’s too soon to say whether AI has led to a structural break in productivity. Fears of widespread job displacement may dominate the narrative, but labor market data tells a different story.
In this episode of the 10-Minute Take, RBC U.S. economists Carrie Freestone and Imri Haggin discuss:
Whether recent productivity gains can be attributed to adoption of AI or reflect other factors.
How AI-related capital spending is influencing business investment.
What data shows about AI's impact on jobs, and whether labor displacement is happening.