The Bank of Canada is expected to leave interest rates unchanged when it makes its next monetary policy decision on Tuesday.

The rate announcement will be made at 9 a.m. ET.

Bank of Canada governor David Dodge
(CBC)

The overnight rate — the rate that large banks can charge each other for overnight loans — currently stands at 4.25 per cent, where it has been since May 24 when the central bank bumped up the rate by one-quarter of a percentage point.

Economists say the situation has not changed very much since the last interest rate decision on Oct. 17.

"Economic growth is coming in just a notch below the bank’s expectations. Inflation is a bit above the bank’s target," said Marc Lévesque, chief strategist for North American foreign exchange and fixed income research at TD Securities, in a recent commentary.

"We continue to believe that the bank will eventually change its tune. But that will not happen next week," he said.

Last week's unemployment report — the last major piece of economic news before Tuesday's interest rate decision — did little to convince economists that the central bank will alter course.

The November jobless rate came in at 6.3 per cent, up one-tenth of a percentage point from October. The economy added 22,400 new jobs, but the unemployment rate ticked up as more people looked for work.