Statistics Canada released its April 2023 Labour Force Survey on Friday, which showed Calgary’s unemployment rate dipping to 6.4 per cent. This, as the jobless rate in Windsor, Ont. soared a whole percentage point to settle at 6.7 per cent.
“Alberta created 4,300 full time jobs in April, 86,500 jobs over the past 12 months, and approximately 250,000 jobs since 2021,” said Calgary-Peigan UCP candidate Tanya Fir in a statement.
“We have more people working today than ever before in our history, and our people are earning more every week than anywhere else in the country. This is all good news for Alberta families, who want to keep moving forward.”
Meanwhile, Calgary-Foothills NDP candidate Court Ellingson said while Calgary’s unemployment rate did drop, it was still the second-highest rate in the country among cities.
“Alberta’s NDP will take action to restore our competitiveness, attract investment, build a resilient economy and create good-paying jobs, now, and for future generations,” Ellingson said.
“An Alberta NDP government will revitalize downtown Calgary and create tens of thousands of good-paying industrial jobs across the province.”‘
While Calgary no longer holds the dubious honour of having the largest jobless rate in the country, it still has the highest one in the province.
“An employment increase of 15,600 jobs paired with stability in labour force participation through April marks the second month of positive signals,” noted Calgary Economic Development in a Friday statement.
“Calgary’s particularly strong growth in full-time employment this month (and compared to other major Canadian cities) is a good sign of confidence in our economy and in the quality of jobs in Calgary.”
In Edmonton, the unemployment rate increased slightly to 5.7 per cent in April from 5.4 per cent in March.
Meanwhile, in Lethbridge, unemployment rose to 4.9 per cent from 4.7 per cent the month prior
Provincially, unemployment increased by two percentage points to sit at 5.9 per cent in April.
TD director of economics James Orlando says the details in the jobs report are “mixed.”
The economy continued to add jobs, but only part-time work. Moreover, population growth has been propping up employment numbers for months as Canada welcomes more immigrants.
The job gains in April were led by the wholesale and retail trade industry, while the largest losses occurred in business, building and other support services.
With the labour market remaining relatively tight, average hourly wages were up 5.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis, growing faster than inflation.
The annual inflation rate in March was 4.3 per cent and is expected to fall to about three per cent by mid-year.
The continued strength in the labour market is pushing the Bank of Canada to remain hawkish in its communications, even as it holds its key interest rate steady.
The central bank has been warning that a tight labour market will make it more difficult to get inflation back to its target of two per cent, as higher wages could put upward pressure on prices.
Last month, the Bank of Canada governing council discussed raising rates again, but opted to remain on hold.
Orlando says if the economy continues to resist the slowdown the Bank of Canada is trying to engineer, interest rates may not be high enough.
“Maybe the Bank of Canada has to reassess what the proper level or the policy rate is to actually bring the economy to the economic slowdown that’s needed to get inflation back (down),” Orlando said.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
