McGill says pro-Palestinian protest outside senior administrator's home 'crosses the line'
McGill University has denounced a pro-Palestinian protest held Sunday outside the home of one of its senior administrators.
Canada's economy added five times the number of jobs that were forecast for April and the unemployment rate unexpectedly held at 6.1 per cent, data showed on Friday, dampening market bets for a June rate cut.
The economy added a net 90,400 jobs while analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a gain of 18,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to 6.2 per cent.
The gains - largest since the 110,000 jobs added in January 2023 - were a mix of part-time and full-time work, and entirely in the services-producing industries, data from Statistics Canada showed.
Download the CTV News App for breaking news alerts and video on all the top stories
Analysts said the data might prompt the Bank of Canada (BoC) to think twice about when to start cutting rates from their current 23-year-high of five per cent.
Money markets trimmed their bets on a June rate cut to 48 per cent from 54 per cent. They are now fully pricing in a cut in September compared to July before the report was released.
"Certainly this raises the bar for a very near-term rate cut and I think it speaks to how the balance of risks really does support the Bank of Canada potentially waiting until July," said Andrew Kelvin, chief Canada strategist at TD Securities.
The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.3 per cent to $1.3640 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.31 U.S. cents.
The average hourly wage growth for permanent employees slowed to an annual rate of 4.8 per cent from five per cent in March. The wage growth rate - closely tracked by the BoC because of its effect on inflation - is now the slowest since it dipped to 3.9 per cent in June.
The slowdown in wages adds to signs that the economy is moving in line with the BoC's projections.
Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the jump in employment was not a total surprise, given healthy Canadian population growth.
"It's not quite the clear cut story for the Bank of Canada that the headline job number would suggest. It would definitely give the bank pause if they were leaning to cut but I still think the real heavyweight indicator here is the next inflation reading (on May 21)," he said by phone.
The bank is looking at a broad range of indicators for evidence that inflation is heading toward a two per cent target, and said last month that a rate cut in June was possible if a recent cooling trend in prices is sustained.
Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said the strong numbers gave the Bank of Canada time to see whether inflation would continue falling.
"That makes it more likely the Bank will wait until the late July meeting to cut interest rates, as there are three (inflation) reports ahead of that meeting but just one before the early June meeting," he said in a note.
Friday's jobs report showed that employment in the services sector increased by a net 100,700 jobs, led by professional, scientific and technical services as well as accommodation and food services. The goods sector lost a net 10,400 jobs, mostly in construction and agriculture.
The employment rate, or the proportion of the population who are employed, also held steady at 61.4 per cent in April, after six consecutive months of declines, StatCan noted.
(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Rod Nickel in Winnipeg and Fergal Smith in Toronto;Editing by Dale Smith, Philippa Fletcher and Ros Russell)
McGill University has denounced a pro-Palestinian protest held Sunday outside the home of one of its senior administrators.
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
Singapore Airlines will reward its employees with a bonus worth nearly eight months of salary, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday.
Katy Perry said her goodbyes on 'American Idol' after seven seasons. On Sunday night’s live 'idol' season finale, a medley of Perry's hit songs were performed, including 'Teenage Dream,' 'Dark Horse' and 'California Gurls.'
U.S.-based restaurant chain Red Lobster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Florida court after securing $100 million in financing commitments from its existing lenders, the company said on Sunday.
A federal judge will reopen the sentencing hearing for the man who broke into Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer after the judge failed to allow him to speak during his court appearance last week.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a Canadian-born former Guantanamo detainee who was seeking to wipe away his war crimes convictions, including for killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.
Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you're doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next.
A 35-year-old woman is in critical condition after the pick-up truck she was driving was struck by a Via Rail passenger train Monday morning in Quebec's Monteregie region.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.