Jumat, 06 September 2019
Canada's jobs market surprises again with monster gain - BNNBloomberg.ca
Canada recorded one of its best months of job gains on record in August, a surprising show of strength by a labour market that has relentlessly powered the nation’s expansion.
The economy added 81,100 jobs last month, Statistics Canada said Friday in Ottawa, versus expectations for a gain of about 20,000. It’s the seventh largest monthly gain in records going back to 1976. Canada has now added 471,300 jobs over the past 12 months, the most in a year since 2003.
Friday’s jobs report will only reaffirm expectations at the Bank of Canada that the nation’s economy has developed a certain amount of resilience to global trade headwinds, giving the central bank ammunition to buck the global easing trend. For one, the gain in August should ease worries about the extent of any slowdown in the second half of this year.
“If the Bank of Canada was on the fence about cutting rates in October, today’s jobs numbers might be one further push towards standing pat,” Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, said in a note to investors.
The Canadian dollar jumped 0.3 per cent to $1.31897 per U.S. dollar at 8:39 a.m. in Toronto. The currency has gained almost a full cent since Wednesday, when the Bank of Canada began to downplay the likelihood it is poised to cut interest rates soon.
Swaps trading suggests markets have pushed back expectations for the next rate cut to as late as April, from the December cut expected earlier this week.
The strong jobs market is being fed by new workers. That’s a good sign, suggesting there is a reserve of available workers that employers can tap. That should help temper any overheating risks and raise confidence the jobs rally has more room to run.
As a result, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.7 per cent in August, as much of the employment gain reflected a surge in new entrants to the labour force.
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- Wage gains slowed but remained strong. Hourly pay was up 3.7 per cent in August from a year earlier. While that’s down from 4.5 per cent in July, it’s still well above average in recent years. Permanent worker pay slowed to an annual pace of 3.8 per cent
- Total hours worked in August were up 1.2 per cent from a year earlier, compared to 0.7 per cent annual pace in July
- The economy added 23,800 full-time jobs in August, while part- time employment increased by 57,200.
- The number of people employed by private sector companies surged 94,300, more than reversing a drop the previous month
- The employment gain last month was largely in services, which recorded a 73,300 increase
--With assistance from Erik Hertzberg.
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September 06, 2019 at 11:03PM
Fed chair Powell talks down gold, reiterates optimistic outlook on U.S. growth - Kitco News
(Kitco News) - The gold market is giving up its daily gains as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell provides little guidance on U.S. monetary policy ahead of the central bank’s meeting in less than two weeks.
Powell struck a relatively optimistic tone in his comments at an event in hosted by the Swiss Institute of International Studies, in Zurich Switzerland.
He reiterated his stance that the U.S. economy will continue to grow even as it faces global headwinds. The comments have weighed on the gold market. December gold last traded at $1,528 an ounce, relatively flat on the day.
Although business investment has weakened because of global trade uncertainty, Powell said that the central bank is not forecasting a recession.
“The labor market is still tightening at the margins and the consumer is in good shape. There will be no recession but there are risks that we are monitoring,” he said.
Powell’s positive statement on the labor market comes after data showed that the U.S. economy created 130,000 jobs. Although economists have described the latest nonfarm payrolls report as decent it missed consensus forecast estimates.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool markets are still pricing in a rate cut Sept. 18 following the central bank’s monetary policy meeting. Many analysts have noted that economic data continues to support looser monetary policy, which will ultimately benefit the gold market.
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September 06, 2019 at 11:58PM
Hudson's Bay to shutter last 2 Zellers stores in Toronto and Ottawa - CP24 Toronto's Breaking News
Aleksandra Sagan, The Canadian Press
Published Friday, September 6, 2019 2:06PM EDT
Last Updated Friday, September 6, 2019 2:45PM EDT
The last two remaining locations of discount retailer Zellers will shutter its doors early next year, says Hudson's Bay Co.
"Through the normal course of business we continually evaluate store performance and other factors, and may determine it necessary to close a store," spokeswoman Tiffany Bourre wrote in an emailed statement.
The retailer expects to close the Toronto and Ottawa locations in January 2020.
Bourre declined to specify how many employees work at the stores, saying "we do not break out store employment numbers."
Eligible employees will receive employment separation packages and the company will explore transfer opportunities where it is feasible, she said.
Waterloo County, Ont.-born Walter Philip Zeller started the company in 1928 with four stores in Ontario.
But an American firm bought him out and subsequently went bankrupt during the Great Depression. Zeller purchased back the Canadian properties, which had grown to 14 locations by then.
He reopened a dozen of the stores in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick as Zellers in 1932.
HBC became the sole owner of Zellers in 1978.
In 2011, the company reached a roughly $1.8-billion deal to sell the leases of 189 Zellers stores to Target and close the remainder -- save for three locations -- by March 2013.
Of the three locations, Montreal and Surrey closed in 2014. That same year, the Ottawa location re-opened, leaving it and Toronto store as the sole remaining Zellers stores.
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September 07, 2019 at 01:06AM