Surprisingly good job numbers, Canada’s positive growth outlook and the threat posed by Europe’s debt crisis.

Two new reports from The Conference Board of Canada support that organization’s prediction of a recovery in 2010, perhaps signaling that our economy will perform even better than originally thought. The January 2010 Index of Consumer Confidence and the winter 2010 Index of Business Confidence show a surprising degree of optimism about the year ahead.

A new report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recommends the introduction of a 26-week extension of employment insurance (EI) benefits. This would be applied to all claims submitted between October 2008 and October 2010. According to the report’s authors, Andrew Jackson, chief economist at the Canadian Labour Congress and Sylvain Schetagne, a senior economist at the Canadian Labour Congress, Ottawa should budget about $4 billion for the extension.