Here are five things you need to know this morning:
Canada adds more jobs than expected: Canada’s jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 6.5 per cent last month as the country added 46,700 jobs. Statistics Canada reported this morning that the economy added almost twice as many jobs as economists had been expecting. The jobless rate was expected to tick up to 6.7 per cent as there were more workers joining the work force than there were jobs being created. But a hiring surge caused the opposite to happen, with the rate ticking down by 0.1 per cent instead. It’s the first slowdown in the jobless rate since January and it increases the likelihood that the Bank of Canada will feel comfortable to bring down its trend-setting interest rate slowly and steadily. The loonie gained about a quarter of a cent against the U.S. dollar after the unexpectedly strong jobs number and is currently changing hands at about 72.71 cents US.
Mixed bag at Aritzia: Canadian fashion retailer Aritzia released earnings after the bell yesterday and it’s fair to call the results mixed. First, the good: the chain saw higher than expected sales in the second quarter on strong demand for its fall catalogue. Revenue came in at $616 million, beating $583 million expectations. But on the downside, the company has cut its outlook for the current quarter and beyond. The chain now says it expects third quarter revenue to come in at a range of up to $700 million. That’s a period that includes the holiday shopping season which is basically make or break for any retailer. The $700 million figure is below the previous forecast of $738 million, and on the earnings call the CEO cited “softer consumer sentiment” for the expected slowdown. The chain opened three new stores in the last quarter. That’s one less than analysts were expecting to see.
Food court conglomerate MTY sees slowdown: Profit and sales at quick-service restaurant conglomerate MTY Group are also showing signs of slowing consumer demand. Profit at the chain that owns Manchu Wok, Mucho Burrito, Wetzels Pretzels and countless other brands came in at $35 million for the quarter. That’s down from $39 million this time last year. On the revenue side, the tally also slipped to $293 million from $298 million, as both franchise revenue streams and food sales both fell.
Storm damage boosts cat losses at Intact: Intact Financial has raised its estimate for catastrophic insurance losses in the third quarter to US$1.2 billion. That’s up from $1.1 billion previously and the company says events such as Hurricane Helene, Tropical Storm Boris and heavy rains in the U.K. are to blame. While most of the big-ticket expenses are abroad, Canada also had some pretty significant weather events that caused insured damage in the quarter, including torrential rains in Ontario, wildfires in Jasper, a hailstorm in Calgary and flooding in Quebec.
Tesla trumps up robotaxis again: Elon Musk unveiled Tesla Inc.’s highly anticipated self-driving taxi at an event in California last night. And in classic Musk fashion, the event was long on hype and short on details. Musk showed off prototypes of a two-door sedan called the Cybercab, along with a concept for a van and an updated version of Tesla’s humanoid robot. The robotaxi, which has no steering wheel or pedals, could cost less than US$30,000 and will go into production in 2026. That’s according to Musk, who has been promising that some version of a self-driving car is just around the corner for more than a decade now. Analysts at Jefferies called the robotaxi “toothless” and market reaction seems to agree – Tesla shares are down about six per cent in premarket trading.