(Reuters) – As 2020 was dawning, the oldest members of the world’s youngest generation – Generation Z – were preparing to emerge into one of the strongest global job markets in decades.
That promising landscape was shredded in a matter of months with the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic. Unemployment soared everywhere, but it visited with a fury on the ranks of the youngest workers, often over-represented in service industries like restaurants and travel that were struck hardest by business shutdowns and restrictions on consumer movement and activities.
Graphic: The youngest workers have lost labor market share https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/GENERATION-Z/xlbvgmmbzvq/chart.png
When the pandemic struck in the first quarter of 2020, the youth labor market bracket – 15-to-24-year-olds in most economic statistics – had only just begun to claw back some of their share of the job market lost during the 2007-2009 Great Recession. In the Group of 7 advanced economies, young workers went from accounting for 11.2% of all those employed at the end of 2019 to just 10% at the end of June, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. More than 6.4 million youths lost work across the G7 in the first half of 2020.
Graphic: Gen Zers hit hard by COVID job loss https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/GENERATION-Z/yxmpjqexzvr/chart.png
In the United States, Gen Z members were more likely than any other age group to report being affected by unemployment or lost income.
A Pew Research Center survey from the spring found that half of those aged 23 or younger said they or someone in their household had lost their job or had their pay reduced because of the pandemic. That compared with just 40% of Millennials, 36% of Gen Xers and 25% of Baby Boomers.
Graphic: U.S. Gen Z unemployment https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/GENERATION-Z/azgpoyyknpd/chart.png
While the U.S. unemployment rate has dropped to 6.7% from a post-World War Two high of 14.7% in April, it remains well into the double-digits for teens and workers in their early 20s, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Beyond the immediate damage to education and job prospects is the risk of what economists call “scarring,” where the knock-on effects do long-term harm to income levels, access to training, career prospects and even mental well-being.
Data show that periods of youth unemployment cause serious long-term damage. A study by the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research found that even one month of unemployment for those aged 18-20 knocked 2% of total lifetime income.
(Reporting by Dan Burns in Newtown, Connecticut, and Mark John in London; Editing by Leslie Adler)
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick‘s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government is making some changes to mortgage rules to help more Canadians to purchase their first home.
She says the changes will come into force in December and better reflect the housing market.
The price cap for insured mortgages will be boosted for the first time since 2012, moving to $1.5 million from $1 million, to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
On Aug. 1 eligibility for the 30-year amortization was changed to include first-time buyers purchasing a newly-built home.
Justice Minister Arif Virani is also releasing drafts for a bill of rights for renters as well as one for homebuyers, both of which the government promised five months ago.
Virani says the government intends to work with provinces to prevent practices like renovictions, where landowners evict tenants and make minimal renovations and then seek higher rents.
The government touts today’s announced measures as the “boldest mortgage reforms in decades,” and it comes after a year of criticism over high housing costs.
The Liberals have been slumping in the polls for months, including among younger adults who say not being able to afford a house is one of their key concerns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 1.4 per cent to $71 billion in July, helped by higher sales in the petroleum and coal and chemical product subsectors.
The increase followed a 1.7 per cent decrease in June.
The agency says sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector gained 6.7 per cent to total $8.6 billion in July as most refineries sold more, helped by higher prices and demand.
Chemical product sales rose 5.3 per cent to $5.6 billion in July, boosted by increased sales of pharmaceutical and medicine products.
Sales of wood products fell 4.8 per cent for the month to $2.9 billion, the lowest level since May 2023.
In constant dollar terms, overall manufacturing sales rose 0.9 per cent in July.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
