The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that the Bank of Canada cut the policy rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 per cent on Wednesday, marking its first easing since March. The Post's guest columnist David Rosenberg writes that the statement notably shifted from describing the global economy as "resilient" to "slowing." The U.S. labour market was also cut from "solid" to "slowed." Policy-makers also paid lip service to the contraction in Canada's real GDP, the recent job losses and the softening in hiring plans. Along with a more challenging demographic profile, this will "weigh on household spending" in the months ahead, they said in a statement. The BOC held rates steady for six months due to concerns about tariffs and their inflation impact. However, rising consumer price index readings were resolved by July-August. Ottawa's recent decision to lift most retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports should reduce upward price pressure on these goods. The BOC's confidence level that inflation is back on a downward path has substantially increased in recent weeks. The overall economic outlook was marked by the repeated use of "weak," "soft" and "slow" 10 times, double the frequency from the last meeting six weeks ago.