Canadian Economy in October 2016 Adds 44,000 Job but....

The economy gained 44,000 jobs last month -- fueled entirely by part-time employment, which offset a loss in full-time positions -- Statistics Canada said Friday, raising concerns that Canadians are having trouble securing gainful work.

The result is further evidence that Canada is struggling to create "quality, high-paying jobs," said David Madani, senior Canada economist at Capital Economics.

"Even though headline employment is rising, overall income growth still appears to be slowing sharply," Madani wrote in a note to clients.

The overall increase in employment was driven by 67,000 additional part-time positions for the month, while the number of full-time jobs fell by 23,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.0 per cent as more people entered the labour market, looking for work.

Canada Registers Second Place In World's Most Competitive Market

Accounting giant KPMG says Canada was the second most competitive market in a comparison of 10 leading industrial countries. Following is the list of countries in order.
1. Mexico
2. Canada
3. The Netherlands
4. Italy
5. Australia
6. France
7. United Kingdom
8. Germany
9. Japan
10. United States

In its report, KPMG says Canada lags only behind Mexico when it comes to how little businesses have to pay for labour, facilities, transportation and taxes. Montreal topped the list among 34 major cities in North America, followed by Toronto and Vancouver. The three Canadian cities beat out all U.S. cities.

Real Estate Risk In Toronto, Saskatoon And Regina Flagged by CMHC

CMHC flags housing market risks in Toronto, Saskatoon, Regina. The federal housing agency says there is a risk of correction in Canadian housing markets in several cities, especially Toronto, Saskatoon and Regina,  because of overvaluation and overbuilding of real estate.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation looks at housing markets in 15 Canadian cities every quarter, in an effort to detect housing bubbles.

A Blessing In Disguise: Low Dollar Draws Tourists To Canada

 Giuseppe Valiante | The Canadian Press
 From British Columbia to Montreal, the low Canadian dollar is proving a boon to the tourism sector.

Dragged down by cheap oil and an international slump in commodity prices, the dollar is trading at around 70 cents against the greenback and enticing Americans to travel north of the border.

"We're getting more reservations at the last minute from Americans planning trips for the weekend," says Eve Pare, head of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal.

Montreal-area hotels in December made more than $40 million, up more than nine per cent from a year earlier, Pare noted.

The city's tourism bureau said last summer's season — between June and August — saw a 10 per cent increase year over year in the number of American tourists crossing the border into Quebec.

For Katie, 20, a McGill University student from New York State, the low Canadian dollar means her tuition is "basically nothing."

Inflation Close At 1.6% Due To Surge In Cost of Fruits and Vegetables

Prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau greets constituents at a subway station in his riding Tuesday, October 20, 2015 in Montreal, the morning after winning a majority government in the federal election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Canada's highest income earners face the prospect of higher taxes under a new Liberal majority government, but those in the middle can expect a break.

Keith MacIntyre, a tax specialist at accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton, says people in the middle tax brackets could see a reduction in the federal income tax they'll be required to pay if Justin Trudeau's promises are put in place.

"Certainly people in those brackets will be looking forward to that in terms of additional cash flow," MacIntyre said from Halifax.

New report warns of perils of corporate farming in Canada

A farmer works a potato field in North Tryon, P.E.I. in this July 13, 2000 photo. CP

The Canadian Press
A board member for the National Farmers Union says without laws that support decent farm livelihoods, Canada could lose its next generation of farmers.

Matt Gehl, board member for Saskatchewan, says the country could end up with something like “the serfdom many of our ancestors tried to escape.”

On Tuesday, the NFU released an update to its 2010 report on corporate farmland buyup, farm debt and input financing.

Canadian Housing Market Ready To Bust - IMF warns

Andrea Janus, CTV
Canada’s housing market could be headed for “a hard landing,” the International Monetary Fund says, warning that an “overheated housing market” and record-high household debt remain drags on the domestic economy.

In a commentary posted to the agency’s website, Hamid Faruqee and Andrea Pescatori hail how the Canadian economy weathered the 2008 financial crisis, but note that “certain financial risks” remain at play, namely: “its overheated housing markets and high household debt.”

While household debt has recently stabilized, it has “increased to historical highs over the past decade,” and now rests at 150 per cent of disposable income. That is “one of the highest” among OECD member countries, the commentary noted.

Low oil prices hurting Canada’s post recession recovery

The Canadian Press

The Bank of Canada says low oil and commodity prices are putting the Canadian economy’s post-recession recovery at risk.

The central bank’s deputy governor Timothy Lane told an American audience Tuesday that if cheap crude prices persist, they will significantly discourage investment in the oil sector, which he said accounts for about three per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product.

In prepared remarks of his speech in Wisconsin, Lane said lower oil prices produce benefits such as putting more disposable cash in consumers’ pockets and helping to cut costs for other sectors, like manufacturing.

But, Lane predicts the gains will be more than outweighed by the losses because lower incomes in the oil patch and along its supply chain will hurt the rest of Canada’s economy.

“Despite the mitigating factors I enumerated, lower oil prices are likely, on the whole, to be bad for Canada,” Lane said.

New Economist 2015 Cover is Filled With Cryptic Symbols and Dire Predictions

At first glance, we see political figures like Obama and Putin, references to the Rugby cup and the new Spider-Man movie. But a closer look reveals a plethora of important concepts. Here are some of them.

Two-Faced Globe

One side of the globe gazes stoically towards the West while the other side appears irate. Does this represent a confrontation between the East and the West? The cover features a few other symbols referring to the “rise of the East”. What’s more unsettling is that, immediately under that angry globe are pictured a mushroom cloud (the kind that happens after a nuclear bomb goes off) and a spy satellite launching into space.

Tough Times For Venezuela As Oil Price Remain Unstable

President Hugo Chavez

Times are tough in Venezuela and likely to get even tougher this year.

Before oil prices started crashing last summer, cutting revenue for the oil-rich country, President Nicolas Maduro was already presiding over a country plagued by food shortages, soaring inflation and rising discontent, NPR.com reports.

All this has made the president unpopular in many quarters. And it would seem to present a golden opportunity for opponents of the country’s socialist government that’s held power for the past 15 years.

However, Venezuela’s opposition remains fractured and weak while one of its main leaders, Leopoldo Lopez, is behind bars.

Canadian exports will rise despite cheaper oil, says RBC expert

An increase in exports of items that aren't energy-related should be more than enough to offset the impact of slumping oil prices, Royal Bank says. (Timothy Fadek/Bloomberg)

CBC News
One of Canada's biggest banks says an increase in exports that aren't oil and an uptick in consumer spending because of cheaper gasoline prices should be enough to offset the impact on the economy from cratering oil prices.

In its latest market outlook, the Royal Bank of Canada says 2014 was a turning point for Canada's economy in that economists finally started seeing a long overdue increase in Canadian exports from things outside of the always volatile energy sector.

Nine Schools Of Economics Explained In A Snapshot

From the man who bought you "the shortest economic textbook in the world"; and "13 things Economists won't tell you", here is Ha-Joon Chang's ultimate pocket guide to the differences (and similarities) between all the economic schools of thought.

World Oil price falls below $56, heads for biggest annual drop since 2008

A flame shoots out of a chimney at a petro-industrial factory in Kawasaki near Tokyo December 18, 2014. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

By By Alex Lawler

Oil dropped below $56 a barrel on Wednesday and was heading for its biggest annual decline since 2008, pressured by weakening demand and a supply glut prompted by the U.S. shale boom and OPEC's refusal to cut output.

Global benchmark Brent crude has fallen 49.5 percent in 2014 as demand growth slowed, the United States expanded output and OPEC, dropping its strategy of trimming supply to keep oil around $100 a barrel, chose instead to defend market share.

On Wednesday, prices came under further pressure from a survey showing China's factory sector shrank for the first time in seven months in December - a bearish indication on the strength of oil demand in the world's second-largest consumer.

Canadian oil producers feeling pain of low prices as drilling rigs drop to 5yr low

Rigs searching for oil in Canada fell by 25 to 190 last week, the lowest on a seasonal basis since 2009. Matthew Staver/Bloomberg

Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News 
Canadian oil producers are proving less resilient than their U.S. counterparts to plunging prices.

Rigs searching for oil in Canada fell by 25 to 190 last week, the lowest on a seasonal basis since 2009, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Dec. 19. The U.S. total dropped by 10 to 1,536, the highest for that time of the year in at least a decade.

Canadian crude has lost more than a quarter its value since a decision last month by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to maintain output targets amid a surge in North American production. Alberta’s oilsands and Duvernay shale are among the highest-cost areas in the world to produce. About one- fourth of oilsands projects are at risk as prices fall, the International Energy Agency said Oct. 14.

Canadian Dollar Plunges To 5yr Low

The Canadian dollar plunged to 86 cents today in the wake of turmoil in oil and stock markets. | CP

CBC
The Canadian dollar plunged to 86 cents today in the wake of turmoil in oil and stock markets.

The loonie was trading at a 5½-year low of 86.69 cents US.

Oil prices seemed to pause in the steep descent they’ve made in the last two weeks.

West Texas Intermediate crude, the contract traded in New York, was down just 18 cents at 11.30 a.m. ET, to $60.76 US a barrel, after falling more than $2 Wednesday.

Brent crude edged higher, up 23 cents, to $64.47  US. It is down 37 per cent over the last three months.

The discount for the Canadian contract, Western Canada Select, has widened in the past six weeks as the extent of the oil glut became evident.

Alberta wants federal government to lift immigration lid

John CotterThe Canadian Press
Alberta wants the federal government to lift the lid on the number of economic immigrants it can nominate each year for permanent residence so it can better meet its growing labour needs.

Jobs Minister Ric McIver said the province has sent a letter to federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander.

“I would like the federal government to take the cap off of the maximum number of provincial nominees that we can appoint so that we can bring in the people that we need,” McIver said in an interview Monday.

“We think we are going to be 96,000 workers short by 2023 and most of those (are for) skilled and good-paying jobs.”

McIver said the number of economic immigrants allowed into Alberta should be driven by labour market evidence and local information so the province can better react to its own circumstances.

Toronto Stock Exchange Has Its Worst Day In Years

The Canadian Press
The Toronto stock market plunged over 300 points Monday, registering its steepest one-day drop since April 2013, as energy stocks were pounded amid weak Chinese trade data and a report suggesting oil has a long way to go before finding a bottom.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed off the worst levels of the session when it was down almost 500 points, ending the session down 329.53 points or 2.3 per cent to 14,144.17 on top of a slide of almost two per cent last week.

"We're going to continue to see volatility in oil prices and it's going to react to near-term economic data and it will take us some time to work through the supply and demand imbalances that are in the energy market right now,'' said Colum McKinley, Canadian equities manager at CIBC Asset Management.

Oil prices have tumbled nearly 40 per cent since mid-summer on lower demand and a glut of supply, due in large measure to increased production in the U.S. Prices have also been depressed by OPEC's decision to leave production levels unchanged and a move by Saudi Arabia last week to cut prices.

The TSX energy sector fell 6.5 per cent Monday in addition to a five per cent plunge last week as the price of crude settled at a five-year low.

Canada has second-largest wage growth of any developed G20 country

Real wage growth among developed G20 countries. Source: ILO

Daniel Tencer | Huff
Canada has seen the second-largest wage growth of any developed G20 country in recent years, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO).

But it seems to be a case of Canada simply being among the least bad of a bad bunch. Wage growth in the developing world has stalled to nearly zero, the ILO report said.

In the six-year period from 2007 to 2013, covering a large part of the post-recession era, real wages in Canada grew by 5 per cent, or less than one per cent per year.

Only Australia came ahead of Canada, with wages there rising 8.9 per cent in that period. Both countries are resource exporters and benefitted from “a boom in commodities,” the report said.

By comparison, the U.S. saw real wages, meaning wages adjusted for inflation, grow by a mere 1.4 per cent.

Bell Media Canada cuts 80 more jobs

The logo for Bell Media, owned by BCE Inc., is displayed on a Toronto building in a handout photo. Darren Goldstein/The Canadian Press 

Torstar News Service
Bell Media has cut 80 positions across several departments. It is the second round of reductions the broadcaster has made this year. In June, the company announced a reduction of 120 positions.

“I can confirm that a number of positions were eliminated at Bell Media today. The difficult decision was made as the result of continued financial pressure in relation to the industry-wide challenging advertising market for radio and TV,” wrote Scott Henderson, vice-president, communications, Bell Media in an email.

The affected positions are across a number of departments, including Local Radio and TV; Sales, Research, and Revenue Management; Marketing & Communications; Network Operations; and News.

“It amounts to 80 full-time positions in our national radio and television operations‎, or about 1.3 per cent of Bell Media’s entire workforce,” said Henderson.

Global economy growth plan revealed at G20 summit

The Canadian Press
Leaders of the G20 nations finalized a plan Sunday to boost global GDP by more than $2 trillion over five years by investing in infrastructure and increasing trade.

The communique issued at the conclusion of their summit in Brisbane, Australia says the leaders plan to jumpstart growth, in part, by creating a global infrastructure hub.

The plan will purportedly help match potential investors with projects, and also help reduce the gap between male and female participation in the workforce by 25 per cent by 2025.

Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said countries will hold each other to account by monitoring implementation of their commitments to boost growth.

Abbott noted the leaders unanimously agreed that expanding global trade would directly benefit countries and people around the world.