CANADIAN ECONOMY CREATING JOBS, BUT WAGE GROWTH IS FALLING BELOW INFLATION RATE Stats Canada reported the unemployment rate reaches 40-year low while the Canadian economy created 94,100 jobs in November, its largest monthly increase since March 2012 when there was a gain of 94,000 jobs, but the spot- light should be that wage growth was just 1.7%, the worst increase since July of 2017. For permanent workers, wages were up just 1.5%, the worst in over 12 months. So, what does this mean? Well considering that Canada’s current inflation rate is 2.44%, far above the 1.7% wage growth, it means that everyone in Canada is becoming poorer with wages not growing at or above the inflation rate.
CANADIAN MANUFACTURING CEOS LESS OPTIMISTIC HEADING INTO 2019 A new survey shows business optimism for the year ahead among Canadian manufacturing executives is lower than it was a year ago as trade issues weigh. The survey by RK Insights showed 30 percent of the 501 respondents were optimistic about business prospects for 2019, down from 44 percent when asked the same ques- tions going into 2018. The survey found 18 per cent of the senior executives were concerned about business prospects for the year ahead, but 51 percent were cautiously optimistic in a similar level to last year.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JANUARY 2019
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