A study in contrasts: The 10 most important economic charts of the week

On the one hand, US jobs growth is quite strong

And while Canada climbed out of its recession this week…

…Alberta’s labor market, on the other hand, didn’t share in the wealth (thanks, OPEC)

On the one hand, euro zone unemployment keeps falling

On the other hand, French unemployment is near a record high

(which might help explain why eurozone inflation has been so stubbornly low)

On the one hand, commodity-dependent Australia saw a nice pickup in GDP growth

On the other hand, commodity-dependent Brazil is spiraling deeper into recession

On the one hand, spendthrift Germans are shopping a little less

On the other hand, the wallet-shy Japanese were a little looser in October