Economy

Everyone guessing about coronavirus economic impacts

Published

5 years ago

February 11, 2020

BOSTON/WASHINGTON — The coronavirus that spread from a seafood market in Wuhan, China to infect tens of thousands has shuttered businesses, grounded flights and killed over 1,000 people so far, mostly in China.

As the world’s second-largest economy struggles to get back to work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, analysts and bankers have been revisiting their estimates of the economic impact of the virus.

Most believe China faces a short but sharper economic shock than originally thought, one that will be felt around the world. Expectations of how harsh the impact will be vary widely, however. Health professionals and economists say opaque Chinese data and lack of precedent hinder clear estimates.

China’s gross domestic product growth in the first quarter could fall to as low as 4%, Nicholas R. Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, estimated on Tuesday. That compares to Chinese government estimates of 6% annual growth before the virus emerged.

However, if the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases continues to decline, then adverse effect on annual growth will be much smaller, he added.

Analysts from S&P, meanwhile, estimated Tuesday that the virus could lower China’s GDP growth to 5.0% this year, with a peak effect in the first quarter before a rebound begins in the third quarter.

“The numbers are very imperfect, and that’s the basic reason behind the wide range of estimates,” said Lardy. “Everyone is guessing.”

Many economists and analysts are looking closely at the historical precedent from the SARS virus spread in 2003. But when SARS struck, China’s contribution to global GDP was just 4%, compared with 15% in 2017, and Chinese companies were much less integrated into global supply chains.

Any forecasts are also complicated by the fact that Beijing has a history of closely managing China’s economy to hit specific targets, and there were already doubts whether China’s economy could reach 6% growth this year.

Further, much remains unknown about the coronavirus, including its exact incubation period and the effectiveness of China’s quarantine measures, Catherine Troisi, a University of Texas public health specialist, said Tuesday during a National Association for Business Economics call on the virus’s economic impact.

The authoritarian nature of China’s government could also hinder the response by making officials afraid to report problems, she said, adding the latest update of around 43,000 infections is likely an undercount.

“It’s a culture that shoots the messenger. Because of the bureaucracy, local officials are afraid to say anything,” she said.

Headwinds from the virus could knock 40 to 50 basis points off expected U.S. economic growth of up to 2.4% per quarter for 2020, said Constance Hunter, KPMG Chief Economist and president of NABE, also speaking during the call.

Hunter, however, cautioned that could change if infection and death rates spike up. The virus could shave a percentage point off China’s revised growth rate of 5% for the first half of the year, she said.

Jay Bryson, acting Chief Economist for Wells Fargo & Co, said on the call that while some U.S. industries including air travel and electronics could be affected by a Chinese economic slowdown stemming from the epidemic, trade with China still accounts for a small part of the overall economy.

“We wouldn’t say this is going to bring the U.S. economy to its knees,” he said. “Americans are pretty resilient when it comes to consumer spending,” especially on services.

Supply chain disruptions “would have to occur for a while to have a meaningful impact,” he said.

It is unclear whether the coronavirus will prove more or less deadly than other similar outbreaks, Troisi added. “I’m not a fortune teller,” she said.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and Heather Timmons in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

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Economy

Minimum wage to hire higher-paid temporary foreign workers set to increase

Published

14 hours ago

October 21, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The federal government is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream as a way to encourage employers to hire more Canadian staff.

Under the current program’s high-wage labour market impact assessment (LMIA) stream, an employer must pay at least the median income in their province to qualify for a permit. A government official, who The Canadian Press is not naming because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the change, said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault will announce Tuesday that the threshold will increase to 20 per cent above the provincial median hourly wage.

The change is scheduled to come into force on Nov. 8.

As with previous changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the government’s goal is to encourage employers to hire more Canadian workers. The Liberal government has faced criticism for increasing the number of temporary residents allowed into Canada, which many have linked to housing shortages and a higher cost of living.

The program has also come under fire for allegations of mistreatment of workers.

A LMIA is required for an employer to hire a temporary foreign worker, and is used to demonstrate there aren’t enough Canadian workers to fill the positions they are filling.

In Ontario, the median hourly wage is $28.39 for the high-wage bracket, so once the change takes effect an employer will need to pay at least $34.07 per hour.

The government official estimates this change will affect up to 34,000 workers under the LMIA high-wage stream. Existing work permits will not be affected, but the official said the planned change will affect their renewals.

According to public data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 183,820 temporary foreign worker permits became effective in 2023. That was up from 98,025 in 2019 — an 88 per cent increase.

The upcoming change is the latest in a series of moves to tighten eligibility rules in order to limit temporary residents, including international students and foreign workers. Those changes include imposing caps on the percentage of low-wage foreign workers in some sectors and ending permits in metropolitan areas with high unemployment rates.

Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector are not affected by past rule changes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees

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Economy

PBO projects deficit exceeded Liberals’ $40B pledge, economy to rebound in 2025

Published

5 days ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.

However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.

The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.

The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.

The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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Economy

Statistics Canada says levels of food insecurity rose in 2022

Published

5 days ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.

In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.

The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.

Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.

In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.

It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.

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