It may not have been the best of times, nor the worst of times on the North American jobs market in June, but there was a marked difference between how Canada and the U.S. are shaping up. The Canadian economy created 28,000 jobs last month posting its third consecutive month of growth, helped by a […]
The Federal Reserve is signalling that its $600 billion Treasury bond-buying program will end in June as planned because the economy has strengthened and companies are starting to hire more. Ending a two-day meeting Wednesday, the Fed made no changes to the program. The decision was unanimous. The bond purchases were intended to lower loan […]
More Americans bought new homes in March, helping give the battered industry a small lift after the worst winter for sales in almost a half-century. The Commerce Department says new-home sales rose 11 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 300,000 homes. That follows three straight monthly declines. But it remains far […]
The showdown in Washington over the U.S. national debt has prompted Standard & Poor’s to adjust its rating on U.S. Treasuries. While the U.S. still enjoys a AAA rating, S&P warned that there is a one in three chance that it will downgrade the country in the next two years. “Because the U.S. has, relative […]
Europe’s debt problems took a turn for the worse on Thursday, as the government of Portugal resigned and Spanish banks felt the sting of credit downgrades. The resignation of the Portuguese government pretty much guaranteed that the debt-laden nation will require a bailout from its European Union partners. The country’s 10-year bonds were sold off, […]
The U.S. economy continues to struggle its way into a sustainable recovery. A double-dip recession is still a possibility, and that is viewed as the biggest threat to Canadian growth as well. The traditional driver of the American economy is the consumer, but unemployment remains stubbornly high. There was s spot of good news on […]
Statistics Canada reports that even though the 2010 recession was swift to take hold and was a steep fall, it was nothing compared to the two previous ones: 1981-1982 and 1990-1992.
A former GFX Capital director in London has pleaded guilty to running a U.S. $21.8 million Ponzi scheme.
Bankers and analysts said new global rules could mean less money available to lend to businesses and consumers, but praised a decision to give them plenty of time — until 2019 — before the so-called Basel III requirements come into full force. The rules, which will gradually require banks to hold greater capital buffers to […]
The Federal Reserve says more regions in the United States are reporting slower growth as a result of the U.S. economy losing momentum in the late summer. Although the economy was still growing in late summer, the Fed says there were “widespread signs of deceleration.” The latest Beige Book survey by the Fed says economic […]