The long-term economic scarring of the pandemic — mostly among small businesses in leisure and hospitality, food and beverage, and retail — will dampen wage growth over the next few years. One way to see this dynamic is with the Beveridge curve, which illustrates a downward-sloping relationship between a higher … … READ MORE >
Economics
Trade holds the key to Canada’s economic fortunes
Canada could see a major and much-needed boost if the U.S. joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership given the degree of interdependence between the United States and Canada. … READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: December is anticipated to be the biggest on record for IPOs
Special purpose acquisition companies (or SPACs) have been hot this year, but the traditional initial public offering is closing out the year even stronger. … READ MORE >
Jobless claims: Pace of firings increases to 853,000, pointing to urgent need for fiscal aid
As policymakers continue to negotiate over another round of fiscal aid, initial claims for unemployment insurance increased to 853,000 for the week ending Dec. 5. … READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: U.S. job openings improve
Workers are growing more confident in their ability to find a job, according to the most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 5.1 million separations from employment on the back of 6.65 million job openings during October, according to the survey. … READ MORE >
A K-shaped wage environment: Abnormalities in wage and benefit growth during the pandemic
The economic distortions of the pandemic are becoming increasingly evident in the divergent fortunes of the nation’s workers. Hourly wages are rising at a solid rate among nonsupervisory workers, but that’s primarily because of the reduction in force of low-wage workers. … READ MORE >
Looking forward: Canada’s economy in 2021
Canadian output is likely to expand by roughly 4 per cent in 2021 and 2022. While this is solid, the Canadian economy is not likely to reach its full capacity to produce until 2023. … READ MORE >
Coronavirus update: More records to be broken as human toll mounts
A record 237,000 new cases were reported on Dec. 4 and a record 2,921 people died from the COVID-19 disease on Dec. 3, according to the Worldometers database. … READ MORE >
Container crunch pushes shipping rates to record highs
Surging demand for Asian imports and a shortage of containers are congesting U.S. ports, causing headaches for companies importing from Asia, skyrocketing shipping rates and surging purchase prices for containers. … READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Estimating unemployment during the pandemic
Friday’s headline U3 unemployment rate of 6.7% is probably an undercount of the number of out-of-work people, not by design, but by the peculiar circumstances of the pandemic. … READ MORE >