ECONOMY ADDED JOBS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER IN JANUARY
According to Statistics Canada, private sector businesses created 66,800 net new jobs in January.
In the data from the agency’s latest labour force survey, more people also searched for work last month, which pushed the unemployment rate up 0.2 percent to 5.8 percent from its 43-year low of 5.6 percent in December. Economists had expected the addition of 8,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent, accord- ing to Thomson Reuters Eikon. So, the addition of 59,000 jobs with only a 0.1 increase in the unemploy- ment rate is welcome news. South of the border, the U.S. Labour Department shows that last month’s partial government shutdown didn’t affect job growth as 304,000 jobs were added, the most in nearly a year and the U.S. has now added jobs for 100 straight months, the longest such period on record.
TARIFFS TAKE TOLL ON U.S. SPIRITS EXPORTS Retaliatory tariffs caused a sharp downturn in American whiskey exports in the last half of 2018 as distillers started feeling the pain from global trade disputes with the U.S. Exports to some key overseas markets grew rapidly for U.S. producers of bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey products in the months leading up to the tariffs as larger distillers stock- piled supplies, the Distilled Spirits Council said. Other categories including vodka, brandy and rum also had strong overseas sales, but all cate- gories would have been much higher without the additional tariffs as the U.S. negotiates new trade deals with its economic partners. “For the first time, data can demonstrate the negative impact of retaliatory tariffs on what had been a booming export growth story,” said Chris- tine LoCascio, the council’s senior vice-president for international affairs. “The tariffs are making it more difficult to be com- petitive in key markets,” she added, confirming fears among industry leaders that tariffs would depress overseas sales for distilled spirits.
Some large American distillers gained a short- term cushion from trade disputes by stockpiling whiskey supplies in countries ahead of the tariffs. But as the trade disputes continue, they are being hit, too. Smaller distillers didn’t have the luxury of stockpiling and were affected immediately.
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FEBRUARY 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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