Real AWE growth continues to be the weakest link in the Canadian economy. With household debt at critical levels there is little prospect of strong growth in real personal expenditures without growth in real incomes, but 1.7% annual growth in nominal AWE in August 2017 only implies 0.2% growth in real AWE using the seasonally adjusted CPI as a deflator. From October 2015  to August 2017, real AWE have actually fallen at an annualized rate of -0.28%.