OTTAWA —
Canada’s economy finished a sizzling summer by adding 90,200 jobs in August, the third consecutive monthly increase that brought the country as close as it has been to recouping historic employment losses last year.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.1 per cent for the month, compared with 7.5 per cent in July, bringing the rate to the lowest level since the onset of the pandemic last year.
Economists had expected that Friday’s report from Statistics Canada would show another gain as restrictions eased in much of the country, giving another reopening bump to the labour market.
Brendon Bernard, an economist with job-posting website Indeed Canada, said the pace of gains is likely to cool with the arrival of fall because there are fewer restrictions to roll back.
The gains in August were concentrated in full-time work and in the hard-hit service sector, led by gains in accommodation and food services as restrictions eased in much of the country.
Employment increased in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia in August, with little or no change in all other provinces. British Columbia remained the lone province with employment above pre-pandemic levels.
Statistics Canada said gains in the service sector pushed employment there back to pre-pandemic levels for the first time, although there is still some areas that are lagging. TD senior economist Sri Thanabalasingam wrote in a note that the level of employment in high-touch industries was 10 per cent, or nearly 300,000 jobs off its pre-pandemic mark.
Overall, employment was within 156,000 jobs, or 0.8 per cent, of the level recorded in February 2020 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the closest the country has been to recouping all the jobs lost during the first wave of COVID-19.
Still, there are a few flies in the ointment, said CIBC senior economist Royce Mendes, who noted the participation rate fell in August, which helped push down the unemployment rate.
Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate would have been 9.1 per cent in August, down from 9.5 per cent in July, had it included in calculations Canadians who wanted to work but didn’t search for a job.
“The economy is still a long way from being fully healed,” Mendes wrote in a note.
Bernard said a key area of weakness remains in the ranks of the long-term unemployed, who have been out of work for at least six months and accounted for 27.4 per cent of all unemployed in August.
While their numbers dropped by 29,000 to 394,000 in August, long-term unemployment was still 215,000 above pre-pandemic levels. Statistics Canada said about one-quarter of long-term unemployed last worked in March or April 2020 when the pandemic started.
“While there was a bit of improvement in this regard in August, there’s still a ways to go to getting the number of Canadians who’ve been out of work for extended periods of time, back to lower, more normal levels,” Bernard said.
Also of note in August was that workers with jobs felt more comfortable searching for new opportunities. Statistics Canada reported the job-changing rate was 0.8 per cent in August, back to pre-pandemic levels after dropping to zero after first-wave lockdowns.
“It’s a sign that after over a year of relatively slow job hopping that we finally started to see workers show some confidence and make some changes that they might have held off on over the past year,” said Bernard, who noted that job postings on Indeed have been well above pre-pandemic levels for several months.
“This is a really important trend, not just for the health of the labour market from the job-seeker side, but also from employers.”
But not all those jobs are being filled. Labour supply hasn’t kept pace with the robust demand for workers in high-touch industries, Thanabalasingam said, resulting in staff shortages.
“Career changes, and ongoing health concerns could be possible reasons for the lack of available workers,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2021.
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.
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.
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.
