Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

Canada's unemployment rate fell to a record low of 4.9 per cent last month, despite a surprise loss of jobs in the month. Unemployment came down from 5.1 per cent in May as the participation rate fell. In further evidence of how tight the labour market is, Statistics Canada said hourly wages spiked 5.6 per cent year-over-year. Back to the unexpected net drop in jobs: 43,200 positions were cut in the month. Even so, in his instant analysis with us at 8:30 a.m. ET, TD Securities Chief Canada Strategist Andrew Kelvin said this about next week's main event: "The Bank of Canada has nothing to lose by sounding as hawkish as they possibly can."
 
As for the jobs situation in the U.S.: non-farm payrolls rose more than expected and only decelerated slightly from the previous month as 372,000 net new positions were added. Unemployment held steady at 3.6 per cent.

GREATEST OUTDOOR SHOW ON EARTH

The Calgary Stampede gets going today, and from everything Tara Weber has said, this is one is going to feel like the boom times are back. And why not, with West Texas Intermediate crude dancing around US$100 per barrel, oil and gas companies flush with cash, and a brighter fiscal picture in the province. It will be quite the turnaround after last year's more muted affair, and the outright cancellation in 2020. We'll go live on location to Tara and special guests throughout the day. 

THREAT OF MORE TRAVEL CHAOS       

Unifor announced last night that it served 72-hour strike notice to Via Rail. The walkout by more than 2,000 maintenance and service workers could begin at one minute past midnight Monday morning. Suffice to say, this is not the news that the travelling public needs to see after weeks of delays, cancellations, long waits, and frustration at airports. It also begs fresh questions about what the government will do. In a release, Via Chief Executive Martin Landry said the passenger rail company will “continue to talk with the union and remain committed to negotiating a fair and reasonable contract.” 

ROGERS SERVICE DISRUPTION    

There are widespread reports and tweets about service outages on the Rogers Communications network. In fairness, downdetector.ca is showing a spike in outage reports across a number of networks, but the volume at Rogers is most significant and prompted the Toronto Police Service to warn in a tweet that the problem is affecting some 9-1-1 connections. We’ve reached out to Rogers for comment on the scope, cause, and timeline for resolving the issue(s).

MUSK’S TWITTER DEAL REPORTEDLY “IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY”

The Washington Post is reporting the US$44-billion takeover is on the ropes because of Elon Musk’s doubts about the number of spam/bot accounts on the social media platform. Despite this, Twitter shares are only down a few percentage points in pre-market trading; perhaps because investors already had doubts about the deal.  
 
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

• Business is still booming at Aritzia, as shoppers flock to the fashion retailer's stores. In-store revenue doubled in the fiscal first quarter from a year earlier. Revenue from the company's U.S. operations now accounts for more than half of total revenue (which beat expectations, as did adjusted profit). What's not to like? Maybe the 71 per cent surge in selling, general and administrative expenses.
• Linamar cut its second-quarter and full-year global vehicle-production forecasts after markets closed yesterday, pinning the blame on COVID lockdowns in China.
• Teck Resources said in a release last night its second-quarter steelmaking coal sales landed at the bottom end of a previously-announced forecast range (ie, 6.3 million tonnes). It also said its average realized price for that commodity rose in the quarter.
• MTY Food Group continues to benefit from the easing of public-health restrictions and a revival of downtown areas. The fast-food and casual-dining conglomerate behind chains like Mmmuffins, Mucho Burrito, and Madisons beat expectations in the second quarter as revenue jumped 20 per cent year-over-year. In its release, MTY acknowledged persistent challenges stemming from labour and supply chain problems; it also said (as it often does) that it’s ready to “seize acquisition opportunities.”
• GameStop shares have been down about five per cent in pre-market trading after the former meme-stock darling announced it fired Chief Financial Officer Michael Recupero and replaced him with its chief accounting officer, Diana Saadeh-Jajeh.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

• Notable data: Canadian labour force survey, U.S. non-farm payrolls
• Notable earnings: MTY Food Group
• 945: Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson holds media avail at conclusion of meeting of energy and ministers in St. John’s
• 1300: International Trade Minister Mary Ng holds news conference in Vancouver alongside U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Mexico Economy Secretary Tatiana Clouthier Carrillo