Author: Steven Sahiounie

It was a big year for Regina’s Canadian Western Agribition (CWA), as residents from across western Canada flocked to the Queen City for the event. According to the CWA, nearly $100 million was generated in economic activity in 2022 after last year’s Agribition. found the show generated $96.5 million in economic impact for Regina and Saskatchewan. This marks a 31-per cent jump from the last study in 2017, when $73.6 million was brought in. “Our show is a major economic driver for the province and its residents, directly or indirectly, supporting one out of every 190 jobs in the Regina area,” Kindopp said.…

U.S. equities were lower to begin what is likely to be an important five days for the markets. Major tech firms, including Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META), will be among those releasing quarterly earnings this week. The Fed holds a two-day meeting beginning tomorrow, and it’s expected to announce an interest rate decision on Wednesday. On Friday, the Labor Department will release its much-anticipated monthly jobs report. Tech stocks were a major drag on the session, with the Dow snapping a six-day winning streak. Shares of all the FAAMG companies were lower. Last week’s big runup in Tesla (TSLA) shares hit…

Private hiring slowed to its weakest level in two years, according to the ADP National Employment Report, with just 106,000 jobs added in January. In addition, the manufacturing sector continued to contract, with the ISM Manufacturing Survey for January dipping to 47.4. An index reading above 50 indicates an expansion of the manufacturing segment of the economy compared to the previous month. A reading of 50 means no change. A reading below 50 suggests a contraction. Bitcoin (BTC) barely noticed the news, continuing to trade flat over the last 24 hours at just above $23,000. After a brutal 2022, the crypto…

The shakeup would give the president three well-known players from across the Obama-Biden presidential years at a key moment for the economy. President Joe Biden is poised to shake up his leadership team with two veteran economic minds likely to assume new roles just as he faces his best chance yet to avoid a recession that could derail his reelection effort. Biden aides expect a rapid succession of appointments, including Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard as the next National Economic Council director and long-time Biden confidant Jared Bernstein as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. Biden has already…

Facebook’s parent firm recorded a 55% drop in profits during the final quarter of 2022 – the result of a $4.2bn restructuring charge that included the cost of thousands of job cuts. Meta Platforms, which also includes WhatsApp and Instagram in its stable, said its net income profit measure slumped to $4.65bn between October and December. That was down from a figure above $10bn during the same period in 2021. However, its quarterly revenue, ad revenue and Facebook’s daily active user measures all beat market expectations. Users of its platforms, taken together, were up 4%, with Facebook’s alone hitting two billion.…

Britain’s second-biggest steel producer has been drawing up secret plans to axe hundreds of jobs even as it continues talks with ministers about £300m of taxpayer funding that would partly depend on decade-long employment guarantees. Sky News has learnt that British Steel has been discussing launching a consultation on around 800 redundancies, principally focused on the Scunthorpe plant in north Lincolnshire where the company is based. One industry insider said there was a possibility that trade union officials could be briefed on the proposals as early as Wednesday, although there remained a possibility that their disclosure could be delayed pending…

The US central bank has slowed the pace of interest rate hikes further but indicated more rises are likely despite official figures suggesting price pressures have peaked in the world’s largest economy. The Federal Reserve revealed its verdict hours before counterparts in the UK and Europe made their next moves in the battle against inflation – with both the Bank of England and European Central Bank set to raise borrowing costs further. The Fed, as it’s known, raised its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point – as financial markets expected – following an aggressive set of…

Data also shows an increase in the number of people cutting back on essential buying to cover bills, including on groceries, medicines and housing costs. About 2.3 million households missed an essential payment in January – an increase of 400,000 on the month before, but similar to previous years. Essential payments – which include mortgages, rent, loans and credit cards – often peak in January, according to Which?’s consumer insight tracker. The monthly poll of approximately 2,000 people discovered that almost 59% made at least one financial adjustment, such as selling items, dipping into savings or cutting back on essentials,…

British Gas has suspended the use of court warrants to force-fit prepayment meters after a report alleged it sent debt collectors to break into customers’ homes to install them – ignoring their vulnerabilities. Centrica, the owner of British Gas, said in a statement that “all warrant activity” had been suspended and that protecting vulnerable customers is an “absolute priority”. It followed an investigation by The Times that alleged a company used by British Gas to pursue debts, Arvato Financial Solutions, had broken into homes to fit the devices, despite signs children and disabled people were living there. The paper reported…

The UK economy is continuing to lose billions annually following Brexit, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Economics released on Tuesday. The report states that the British economy is currently 4% smaller than it might have been had the country stayed within the bloc, and has been losing roughly £100 billion ($124 billion) a year after its exit from the EU in 2020. “Did the UK commit an act of economic self-harm when it voted to leave the EU in 2016? The evidence so far still suggests it did. The main takeaway is that the rupture from the single market…