The economic distortions of the pandemic are becoming increasingly evident in the divergent fortunes of U.S. workers. At first glance, the news seems to be good: Hourly wages for nonsupervisory workers have been rising at a 4.5% year-over-year rate for the past five months, far above the 2.5% average ... READ MORE >
coronavirus
Looking forward: Canada’s economy in 2021
The North American economy is defined by two trading partners connected through a common set of sociopolitical values, culture and industry. For every Raptors fan, there’s a heartbroken Warriors fan. And for every Ian Tyson who thinks he’ll “go out to Alberta,” there’s a Neil Young living in Los Angeles. ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Booming mortgage originations
After a slow first quarter, mortgage originations in the United States are surging as homeowners capitalize on historically low interest rates, with the totals approaching levels not seen since 2003. Mortgage originations totaled $962 billion and $928 billion in the second and third quarters, ... READ MORE >
Coronavirus update: More records to be broken as human toll mounts
The human toll of the novel coronavirus continued to mount in the week after Thanksgiving, with no signs of slowing down. A record 237,000 new U.S. 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. New ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Vaccine doses for the global population
With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set to review Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine this week for emergency use authorization and Moderna’s vaccine next week, we have passed the “if” phase of questions around the vaccine. Now, the focus turns to the “when and how” of distribution. The ... 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 in the United States, not by design, but by the peculiar circumstances of the pandemic. By adjusting the number of unemployed to include the number of people who are not in the labor force ... READ MORE >
U.S. November employment report: Winter is coming
The recall of workers and job creation continued to slow in November to 245,000, while the unemployment rate declined to 6.7%, just ahead of what is likely to be a pandemic-induced drag on domestic labor market conditions over the next few months. Current lockdown measures, reflected by the churn ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: ISM service sector index growth continues
This pandemic recession is unlike all others, and Thursday’s release of the Institute for Supply Management’s survey of sentiment among firms in the service sector adds to the evidence. The November ISM Non-Manufacturing Index eased to 55.9, which is below the six-month average of 57.1, indicating ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Airport traffic surges over Thanksgiving
Amid spiking coronavirus cases, airports had a surge in travelers over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The Transportation Security Administration reported that more than 1 million passengers were processed through its checkpoints on the busy travel days of Wednesday and Sunday. This represents the ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Manufacturing expansion continues in November
U.S. manufacturing activity continued its expansion in November, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index. The index registered 57.5 in November, its seventh straight month of expansion, but was 1.8 points below the 59.3 reading in October. A reading ... READ MORE >