The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Oct. 29, edition that the Bank of Canada raised its policy rate to 2.5 per cent on Wednesday. The Globe's guest columnists Jeremy Kronick and Steve Ambler write that they believe the BOC should have held rates steady. The economic outlook argues for caution. Prospects for fourth quarter growth have faded, prompting most forecasters to lower their projections. On Oct. 20, the Parliamentary Budget Office published its economic and fiscal outlook, lowering its 2026 growth forecast to 0.9 per cent, down from 1.1 per cent in June. The bank itself estimates that if the new United States tariffs remain in place, including those scheduled to take effect on Oct. 30, fourth quarter growth could be halved to less than 1 per cent. And the labour market statistics are anything but upbeat. More than 40,000 jobs were lost in August and nearly 70,000 in September; many of them were full-time and many were in the core 25-to-54 age group. The guest columnist's view of these data is that there remains slack in the economy, which will have the effect of slowing price increases even in the face of increased energy costs. Raising rates risks aggravating this economic slowdown.