FINWIRES — Financial News

Canada's Labor Market Shows "Some Signs of Stabilization" in March, But There Are Buts, says Desjardins

After a string of job losses to begin the year, Canada's labour market had "some signs of stabilization" in March, says Royce Mendes at Desjardins after the release of Friday's Labour Force Survey (LFS) showing the Canadian economy added back 14,000 jobs in March, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 6.7%.But, he adds, all of the new positions were part-time, with full-time jobs "stable" after a "devastating" decline of 108,000 in February.Mendes also notes while the year-over-year pace of average hourly earnings accelerated in March, the pickup was due to compositional effects as Statistics Canada said average hourly earnings rose just 3.6% when keeping the composition fixed, suggesting wages "aren't actually heating up."The bank's tracking for Q1 gross domestic product remains around 1.5% to 2.0%, roughly in line with the Bank of Canada's January forecast.Overall, Mendes adds, there's nothing in Friday's LFS to suggest that the economy is perking up. Despite upgrading its oil price forecasts, Desjardins continues to believe central bankers will remain on the sidelines for the remainder of this year, given persistent slack in the economy.

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Sector Update: Consumer Stocks Mixed Pre-Bell Friday

Consumer stocks were mixed pre-bell Friday, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) slightly lower and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) advancing by 0.1%.Brown-Forman (BF.A, BF.B) was approached by Sazerac about a potential transaction amid ongoing discussions with French spirits company Pernod Ricard, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Brown-Forman stock was up more than 1% premarket.TAL Education Group (TAL), Baidu (BIDU), along with several other venture capital entities, participated in the Series B investment round for Chinese artificial intelligence developer ShengShu Technology, the AI company said. TAL Education Group shares were up more than 1% pre-bell.JD.com (JD) shares were 0.7% higher after the company said it closed its offering of 10 billion Chinese renminbi ($1.46 billion) of senior unsecured notes.

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Oil & Energy17d ago

EMEA Oil Update: Prices Below $100 as Middle East Conflict Lingers

Crude oil futures attempted to stabilize below $100 threshold on Friday as significant physical supply constraints counteracted optimism surrounding the two-weeks ceasefire.The front-month Murban crude contract dropped 1.7% at $97.97 per barrel. Brent futures contract eased 0.4% at $95.91/bbl."Crude prices try to [stabilize] below [$]100 following the sharpest weekly drop since last June yet remain underpinned by mixed signals surrounding the proposed peace plan, a roughly 600,000 b/d cut in Saudi production capacity, and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz since late February," Saxo Bank analysts said."Meanwhile, spot Brent transactions continue to clear at notable premiums to futures, underscoring mounting supply stress as refiners scramble to replace disrupted Middle East flows," they added.An April 9-dated news article by the Saudi Press Agency citing the Energy Ministry referred to an attack "recently" on a pumping station on the East-West pipeline, which it said caused a loss of about 700,000 barrels in throughput.It did not make mention of the origin of the attack but a source told Reuters on Wednesday that it came from Iran, damaging Saudi Arabia's main alternative route to export markets since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.Market analysts warned that the damage to infrastructure may cause long-term disruptions. Oil and gas output has already been scaled back, and refinery operations remain curtailed, meaning it could take weeks or months to fully reverse the supply shock.Analysts from ING noted that while there was initial optimism regarding a resolution to the six-week conflict, geopolitical risk premiums remain high following new threats from Washington toward Tehran.US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday amid reports that Tehran has started charging transit fees on tankers navigating the Strait of Hormuz, as shipping through the key waterway remains largely restricted despite the ceasefire deal."There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait," Trump said in a social media post on Truth Social, "They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!"According to TRM Labs Thursday note, Iran's new toll framework requires payments of up to $2 million per vessel payable in cryptocurrency or Chinese yuan generating an estimated $20 million in daily revenue for Tehran.Further tightening the squeeze, the Tass news agency reported citing a senior Iranian source that Iran will limit transit to a maximum of 15 ships per day.The source reportedly said that under the current ceasefire, "fewer than 15 ships per day" will be permitted to sail via the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report.All eyes are now on the high-stakes talks between a US delegation and Iranian officials scheduled for this weekend.

Treasury17d ago

Canada Posts Small Jobs Gain in March, as Expected

Canada's employment was little changed in March, up 14,000 or 0.1% month over month, while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7%, said the country's statistical agency in Friday's Labour Force Survey (LFS).The job increases were in line with a forecast 14,500 increase and 6.7% unemployement rate provided by MUFG.Across the major age groups, employment held steady and the unemployment rate was little changed, noted Statistics Canada in a statement.Employment rose in the 'other services' industry, which includes repair and maintenance services, by 15,000 and 1.9% month over month, and it also increased in natural resources, up 10,000 and 3.0% month over month. Employment declined in finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing, or down 11,000 and 0.8%.Fewer people were employed in British Columbia (-19,000; -0.7%), while employment rose in Manitoba (+11,000; +1.5%), Saskatchewan (+5,800; +0.9%) and Nova Scotia (+3,900; +0.7%).Average hourly wages among employees increased 4.7% (+$1.68 to $37.73) on a year-over-year basis in March, following growth of 3.9% in February, not seasonally adjusted, added StatsCan.Recent increases in average hourly wages were partly due to a shift in the composition of employment. Using a method that holds constant the composition of employees by occupation and job tenure, average hourly wages grew by 3.6% on a year-over-year basis in March, similar to the rate of growth observed in January (+3.6%) and February 2025 (+3.5%), stated the Ottawa-based agency.The participation rate -- the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who were employed or looking for work -- was unchanged at 64.9%. On a year-over-year basis, the labor force participation rate was down 0.4 percentage point.The LFS estimates are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. As a result, monthly estimates will show more variability than trends observed over longer time periods. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level.LFS estimates at the Canada level do not include the territories. The LFS estimates are the first in a series of labor market indicators released by StatsCan, which includes indicators from programs such as the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH); Employment Insurance Statistics; and the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey.

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Financial News · Live Terminal

Canada's Labor Market Shows "Some Signs of Stabilization" in March, But There Are Buts, says Desjardins

Sector Update: Consumer Stocks Mixed Pre-Bell Friday

Canada's Labor Market Shows "Some Signs of Stabilization" in March, But There Are Buts, says Desjardins

Sector Update: Consumer Stocks Mixed Pre-Bell Friday

Sector Update: Tech Stocks Edge Higher Premarket Friday

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Canada Posts Small Jobs Gain in March, as Expected