WINNIPEG —
Manitoba added more jobs in June as the province continued its reopening strategy, according to Statistics Canada.
The agency said between May and June, there were 28,900 more positions, which included about 14,800 full-time jobs and 14,200 part-time jobs.
Scott Fielding, the province’s finance minister, said as part of the numbers Manitoba is leading the way with employing students.
He said over 8,000 students have jobs right now and he added that is due to the programs the government currently has in place.
“What the survey is showing is that Manitoba is going to lead the nation in the youth unemployment rate,” said Fielding.
The province’s unemployment rate fell to 10.1 per cent in June after reaching 11.2 per cent in May 2020.
Fielding said despite seeing some positive numbers, there are still too many people who are unemployed due to COVID-19.
“For the most part we lost about 90,000 jobs during the COVID, I guess I will call period or shutdown, that’s there and we have over 42,000 that have come back online,” said Fielding. “I want to be perfectly clear though, that is not an acceptable number to us until we have the type of employment that we were prior to COVID. Again these are positive steps.”
Fielding also mentioned that there could be a chance more programs could come into effect to help Manitobans get back to work, but that probably won’t be evaluated until the fall.
Manitoba’s numbers are in line with what is being seen across the rest of the country.
Statistics Canada is reporting the Canadian economy added 953,000 jobs last month – 488,000 full-time and 465,000 part-time.
In May, Canada’s unemployment rate reached a record-high of 13.7 per cent, but dropped to 12.3 per cent in June.
Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont feels the government’s Labour Force Survey is misleading.
“The PC’s numbers don’t add up – their own numbers show that Manitoba is seventh out of ten provinces in terms of jobs added. In Winnipeg, unemployment is actually up by 13%,” said Lamont in an emailed release.
Lamont said nearly 250,000 Manitobans signed up for the federal government’s CERB program, but a very small amount of people have gone back to work.
He added the unemployment results are dismal and said it’s because the PCs aren’t doing what it takes to help people and businesses through the pandemic.
“There is absolutely no question that the job numbers are worse than the PCs are letting on because Statistics Canada does not measure unemployment on First Nations, which have been hit incredibly hard.”
Lamont feels there are steps the government could take right now to help Manitobans such as support for childcare and for Manitoba businesses to cover overhead costs.
“There are actual states of emergency in the province that could be solved with provincial investment, such as in Western Manitoba. The PCs are sitting on a Rainy Day Fund while Manitobans are getting crushed.”
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.
