The U.S. economy shed jobs for the first time in eight months in December as the country buckled under an onslaught of COVID-19 infections, suggesting a significant loss of momentum that could temporarily stall the recovery from the pandemic.Reuters
The U.S. economy shed jobs for the first time in eight months in December as the country buckled under an onslaught of COVID-19 infections, suggesting a significant loss of momentum that could temporarily stall the recovery from the pandemic.
Non-farm payrolls decreased by 140,000 jobs last month, the U.S. Labour Department said on Friday. Data for November was revised up to show 336,000 jobs added instead of 245,000 as previously reported. That was the first decline in payrolls since April. The economy has recovered just over half of the 22.2 million jobs lost in March and April.
The unemployment rate was at 6.7 per cent in December.
Despite the labour market weakness, the economy is unlikely to fall back into recession, with a backstop of nearly US$900-billion in additional pandemic relief approved by the government last week.
More fiscal stimulus is expected now that the Democrats have gained control of the U.S. Senate, boosting the prospects for president-elect Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. Congress on Thursday formally certified Mr. Biden’s election victory hours after hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
There is also optimism that the rollout of coronavirus vaccines will be better co-ordinated under the Biden administration. COVID-19 cases in the United States have jumped to more than 21 million, with the death toll exceeding 356,000 since the virus first emerged in China in late 2019, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, the employment report joined a raft of other weak data on consumer confidence and spending in underscoring the virus’ brutal impact on the economy.
“The economy will be on the soft side for the next several months, but with fiscal support and vaccines, the economy should kick into higher gear by summer,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Penn.
The economy is believed to have expanded at around a 5-per-cent annualized rate in the fourth quarter, with the bulk of the rise in gross domestic product seen coming from inventory investment. It grew at a historic 33.4-per-cent pace in the third quarter after shrinking at a 31.4-per-cent rate in the April-June period, the deepest since the government started keeping records in 1947.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
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.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/X47LWAL4HRP6LNQRX4CZT6NGGQ.JPG)
