OTTAWA —
Nearly one-quarter of Canada’s unemployed have been without work for six months or more, with Statistics Canada reporting a spike in their numbers in October even as the economy eked out another month of overall job growth.
Nearly 450,000 were considered long-term unemployed last month, meaning they had been without a job for 27 weeks or more, with their ranks swelling by 79,000 in September and then 151,000 more in October.
Long-term unemployed now make up 24.8 per cent of Canada’s unemployed, who numbered 1.8 million in October, as the wave of short-term layoffs in March in April rippled into the fall.
The jumps in September and October are the sharpest over more than 40 years of comparable data, and have pushed long-term unemployment beyond what it was just over a decade ago during the global financial crisis.
More men than women have been out of work for an extended period, and younger workers make up a larger share of the ranks of the country’s long-term unemployed than they did in the last recession.
“As the pandemic lingers, and vulnerable sectors like food services continue to struggle, it’s really going to be tough to get back to normal,” said Brendon Bernard, an economist with job-posting site Indeed.
“And in the meantime, that’s going to mean definitely struggles for people who’ve been working in parts of the economy that are severely affected.”
The longer those people are out of work, the more difficult it will be for them to find a new job. And for those that do, research has shown a drop in their earnings as they settle for less than they had before.
Some older workers may simply decide to retire. Younger low-wage workers in hard-hit service sectors will have to find new work as part of a reshuffling of the workforce that could take years to play out.
Leah Nord, senior director of workforce strategies for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the numbers show governments need to roll out “significant” skills training programs to those affected workers pivot to new careers.
The pace of job growth slowed in October as the economy added 83,600 jobs in the month compared with 378,000 in September, Statistics Canada said Friday. The gains marked the sixth straight month of gains after three million jobs lost over March and April when the pandemic first hit Canada hard.
The unemployment rate was little changed at 8.9 per cent compared with nine per cent in September.
The overall gains were the smallest since economies were allowed to reopen after lockdowns, noted TD senior economist Sri Thanabalasingam.
Job increases were found across several industries, including retail.
Most of the gains too were in full-time work, with core-aged women benefiting the most to bring their unemployment rate to 6.6 per cent, the lowest among the major demographic groups tracked by Statistics Canada.
But those gains were partially offset by a decrease of 48,000 jobs in the accommodation and food services industry, largely in Quebec, Statistics Canada says.
More Canadians were also working at home in October, coinciding with a rise in case counts of COVID-19.
CIBC senior economist Royce Mendes says the fact the economy posted another gain in October was good news.
“It seems like employment readings are destined to ebb and flow over the coming fall and winter months, as governments try to adjust activity in attempts to contain the virus,” he writes in a note.
Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate would have been 11.3 per cent in October had it included in calculations the 540,000 Canadians who wanted to work last month but didn’t search for a job.
A quick look at Canada’s October employment (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
Unemployment rate: 8.9 per cent (9.0)
Employment rate: 59.4 per cent (59.1)
Participation rate: 65.2 per cent (65.0)
Number unemployed: 1,816,800 (1,832,600)
Number working: 18,553,500 (18,469,900)
Youth (15-24 years) unemployment rate: 18.8 per cent (18.9)
Men (25 plus) unemployment rate: 7.8 per cent (7.8)
Women (25 plus) unemployment rate: 6.8 per cent (7.0)
Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
Newfoundland and Labrador 12.8 per cent (14.8)
Prince Edward Island 10.0 per cent (10.1)
Nova Scotia 8.7 per cent (7.9)
New Brunswick 10.1 per cent (10.4)
Quebec 7.7 per cent (7.4)
Ontario 9.6 per cent (9.5)
Manitoba 7.1 per cent (7.0)
Saskatchewan 6.4 per cent (6.8)
Alberta 10.7 per cent (11.7)
British Columbia 8.0 per cent (8.4)
Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
St. John’s, N.L. 8.8 per cent (9.8)
Halifax 7.7 per cent (8.4)
Moncton, N.B. 8.3 per cent (7.1)
Saint John, N.B. 10.0 per cent (10.1)
Saguenay, Que. 5.0 per cent (5.4)
Quebec City 4.5 per cent (5.0)
Sherbrooke, Que. 7.0 per cent (7.4)
Trois-Rivieres, Que. 6.0 per cent (6.3)
Montreal 9.6 per cent (10.7)
Gatineau, Que. 7.9 per cent (8.1)
Ottawa 8.2 per cent (8.7)
Kingston, Ont. 8.5 per cent (9.1)
Peterborough, Ont. 11.7 per cent (11.2)
Oshawa, Ont. 8.3 per cent (9.6)
Toronto 11.5 per cent (12.8)
Hamilton, Ont. 9.2 per cent (8.9)
St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 7.5 per cent (8.7)
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 10.8 per cent (12.2)
Brantford, Ont. 7.2 per cent (8.1)
Guelph, Ont. 8.3 per cent (9.6)
London, Ont. 8.9 per cent (8.9)
Windsor, Ont. 10.8 per cent (9.8)
Barrie, Ont. 9.2 per cent (9.4)
Greater Sudbury, Ont. 7.9 per cent (8.5)
Thunder Bay, Ont. 7.6 per cent (8.3)
Winnipeg 8.7 per cent (9.4)
Regina 6.1 per cent (7.4)
Saskatoon 8.1 per cent (9.2)
Calgary 11.3 per cent (12.6)
Edmonton 12.0 per cent (12.6)
Kelowna, B.C. 6.2 per cent (8.0)
Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. 8.6 per cent (8.0)
Vancouver 9.7 per cent (11.1)
Victoria 7.6 per cent (9.1)
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2020.
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.
