Economy

Delta Variant Can Still Clip U.S. Economy’s Wings – The Wall Street Journal

Published

3 years ago

July 22, 2021

The Delta variant of the coronavirus probably won’t derail the U.S. economy. That doesn’t mean it can’t damage parts of it.

For a while, America’s progress against the Covid-19 pandemic looked very good. Millions of people were getting vaccinated each day, Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths were falling, and a return to something like normal beckoned. But then the vaccine rollout slowed markedly just as the far more contagious Delta variant took hold. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths have begun to rise.

It is tempting to imagine the Delta variant won’t dent the economy at all.

Across the board, state and local officials seem far less apt to dial up restrictions in response to rising Covid-19 cases than they were a year ago, while the places with low vaccine uptake also happen to be the places that are most resistant to restrictions. Moreover, many people are vaccinated—particularly the elderly—and with the apparent efficacy of current vaccines against the Delta variant, the U.S. seems unlikely to revisit the staggering mortality statistics of the sort it experienced before vaccines became widely available. Finally, the savings many Americans built up over the past year left them with ample money to throw around, while businesses’ scramble for workers points to a labor market that should keep generating income gains.

Those are all things that should ensure the economy continues to grow, but it probably won’t grow as swiftly as it otherwise could have. Worries about the Delta variant will lead some people to refrain from entering crowded settings, such as restaurants or airplanes, while also making them more cautious about spending down any savings. Some companies will delay their return to the office, as Apple just did, and that will hurt downtown restaurants and the like that depend on office workers’ business.

Bear in mind that the places where vaccine hesitancy is high and Covid-19 worries low aren’t monolithic: Some share of the population will up their caution, in some cases even if they are fully vaccinated for fear of a breakthrough infection. And the more new cases there are in their communities, the more cautious they will become.

Nor are places where vaccination rates are better necessarily going to avoid the fallout from the contagious Delta variant. Around 72% of the 18 and over population of Los Angeles County have received at least once shot, more than the country at large, yet with case rates and hospitalizations rising, last week it reinstated an order to wear masks indoors in businesses and public places.

Then there is the question of what the start of the coming school year might look like. Children under the age of 12 aren’t eligible for vaccination, and authorization for children between 5 and 11 looks as if it won’t come until sometime in the fall, at the earliest. Most schools intend to return to in-person classes, with some offering remote options, but the Delta variant could upend some of those plans.

At the very least parents might need to prepare for the possibility of a positive Covid test shutting down a classroom, leaving their children, and them, stuck at home. Strategists at Evercore ISI point out that the return to school this fall was supposed to free parents for work, boosting the labor supply. But some of the job growth and easing of hiring strains that could create might now be deferred.

The economy has been growing since April last year—a point brought home by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s recent determination that that was when the brief, severe recession the pandemic brought on ended. It kept growing despite a new surge in Covid-19 infections last summer and another wave in the late fall through winter. Unlike in those previous surges, many Americans have been vaccinated so the impact won’t be as severe as it otherwise might have been.

But things could have been so much better.

Write to Justin Lahart at justin.lahart@wsj.com

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Economy

Statistics Canada reports wholesale sales higher in July

Published

13 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.

The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.

The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.

The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.

In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.

Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Economy

B.C.’s debt and deficit forecast to rise as the provincial election nears

Published

3 days ago

September 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.

Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”

The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.

Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.

“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”

Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.

Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.

Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.

B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.

The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.

“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”

Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.

Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.

The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.

Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.

Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.

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Economy

Mark Carney mum on carbon-tax advice, future in politics at Liberal retreat

Published

3 days ago

September 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.

But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.

He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.

Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.

Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

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