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Hot employment market shows signs of cooling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

By DAMIAN J. TROISE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — The hot jobs market has been defying a weakening economy and confounding the Federal Reserve for months, but now shows signs of cooling.The latest set of employment data from the government shows that job openings fell in March to their lowest level since April 2021. Layoffs rose to 1.8 million, their highest level since December 2020.Employers are also slowing the pace of hiring. While hiring remained strong in April, the government lowered its hiring figures for February and March. More broadly, job gains for February through April marked the weakest three-month average since January 2021.The persistently strong labor market has bewildered the Fed and economists for more than a year as higher interest rates meant to slow economic growth did little to loosen a historically tight job market with record low unemployment. That resistance is now slowly fading, according to analysts.“The labor market is usually the last to break in...

Stock market today: Wall Street futures lower ahead of second look at US inflation data this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street edged lower in premarket trading Thursday ahead of the U.S. government’s second release of data on inflation in two days. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.3%, while the S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% before the bell.On Wednesday, most major U.S. indices finished higher after new data suggested inflation in the United States was cooling, though it remains uncomfortably high. A report on inflation at the wholesale level arrives Thursday, along with the weekly jobless claims data.Traders upped the probability they see of the Fed holding rates steady in June to nearly 94%, according to data from CME Group. The Fed has jacked up rates at a furious pace in hopes of driving down inflation. But high rates do that by slowing the entire economy and hitting investment prices broadly. They’ve already sent stock prices tumbling, caused turmoil in the banking system and dragged on the economy enough that many investors expect a recession to hit this year....

Canadian Tire reports first-quarter profit and revenue down from year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

TORONTO — Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. says its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it faced unseasonably mild winter weather, a slow start to spring in several regions of Canada and a fire at a key distribution centre in Ontario.The retailer reported net income attributable to shareholders of $7.8 million or 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended April 1, down from $182.1 million or $3.03 per diluted share a year ago.Revenue for the quarter totalled $3.71 billion, down from $3.84 billion in the same quarter last year.The drop in revenue came as comparable sales at its Canadian Tire stores fell 4.8 per cent. Comparable sales at its Mark’s banner gained 4.8 per cent, while SportCheck comparable sales grew 3.7 per cent. Helly Hansen revenue rose 22.9 per cent compared with a year ago.Canadian Tire says its normalized earnings for the quarter amounted to $1.00 per diluted share, down from a normalized profit of $3.06 per diluted share a year ago.Analysts o...

Quebecor reports $120.9M Q1 profit, down from $121.4M a year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc. reported its first-quarter profit attributable to shareholders fell to $120.9 million compared with $121.4 million in the same quarter a year ago.The company says the profit amounted to 52 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, up from 51 cents per share a year earlier when it had more shares outstanding.Revenue for the quarter totalled $1.12 billion, up from $1.09 billion in the same quarter last year.On an adjusted basis, Quebecor says its income from continuing operations amounted to 59 cents per share, up from 54 cents per share in the first three months of 2022.The result matched the average analyst estimate for the company’s adjusted profit, while the average estimate for revenue was $1.10 billion, according to estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.Quebecor’s Videotron subsidiary completed its acquisition of Freedom Mobile in April for a total purchase price of $2.85 billion.This report by The Canadian...

Maple Leaf Foods reports $57.7M Q1 loss compared with $13.7M profit a year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Maple Leaf Foods Inc. reported a loss in its first quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it faced a difficult pork market, cost inflation and higher startup expenses.The company says it lost $57.7 million or 48 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a profit of $13.7 million or 11 cents per share in the same quarter last year.Sales in the quarter totalled $1.17 billion, up from $1.13 billion in the first three months of 2022.The company says the increase came as sales in its meat protein group rose to $1.14 billion compared with $1.09 billion in the same quarter last year. Plant protein sales fell to $37.4 million compared with $44.9 million a year earlier.On an adjusted basis, Maple Leaf says it lost 12 cents per share compared with an adjusted profit of three cents per share in its first quarter last year.Analysts on average had expected an adjusted loss of 10 cents per share and $1.16 billion in revenue, according to estimates comp...

Turkish presidential candidate withdraws in boost to Erdogan’s main challenger

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A candidate in Turkey’s presidential election announced Thursday that he was withdrawing from the race, a move that’s likely to bolster President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main challenger.Muharrem Ince, the leader of the center-left Homeland Party, was one of four contenders running for president in the May 14 election. Turkey will also be holding a parliamentary election at the same time. Ince had come under intense criticism for splintering the votes of the six-party Nation Alliance, which has united behind the candidacy of main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and of possibly forcing the presidential race into a second-round.“I am withdrawing from the race,” Ince told reporters in front of his party’s headquarters. “I am doing this for my country.” Erdogan, who has led Turkey as prime minister and president since 2003, is facing the most challenging election of his 20-year rule. Polls had given Kilicdaroglu a slight lead over ...

Algonquin Power and Utilities launches strategic review of renewable energy group

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

OAKVILLE, Ont. — Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp. says it has launched a strategic review of its renewable energy group.The company, which terminated its deal to buy Kentucky Power Company and AEP Kentucky Transmission Co. Inc. last month, says the review will include assessing a range of alternatives with the aim of enhancing shareholder value.Chief executive Arun Banskota says the company expects to announce its plans based on the results of the review by its second-quarter earnings call later this year.The announcement came as Algonquin, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported a first-quarter profit attributable to shareholders of US$270.1 million or 39 cents per share, up from US$91.0 million or 13 cents per share a year earlier.Revenue totalled US$778.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, up from US$733.2 million in the first three months of 2022.On an adjusted basis Algonquin says it earned 17 cents per share in its most recent quarter, down from an adjusted pro...

US wholesale price data for April points to easing inflation pressures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States decelerated last month, the latest sign that inflationary pressures may be easing more than a year after the Federal Reserve unleashed an aggressive campaign of steadily higher interest rates.From March to April, the government’s producer price index rose 0.2% after falling 0.4% from February to March. Compared with a year earlier, wholesale prices rose just 2.3% last month.The index that the Labor Department issued Thursday reflects prices charged by manufacturers, farmers and wholesalers. It can provide an early sign of how fast consumer inflation will rise.Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale inflation rose 0.2% from March and 3.2% from 12 months earlier. The Fed pays particularly close attention to core prices, which tend to be a better gauge of the economy’s underlying inflation pressures.Thursday’s figures follow a government report Wednesday that showed that at the consumer leve...

Official: Explosion at residential building in Germany injures 12 first responders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — An explosion at a residential building in western Germany injured at least a dozen people Thursday, some of them seriously, a senior security official said.The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Herbert Reul, told regional lawmakers that 10 firefighters and two police officers were injured in the blast at a high-rise building in the town of Ratingen.Firefighters and police were called to the building in the morning after concerns were raised about two residents, Reul said. When they forced open an apartment door, they found a fire and one of the inhabitants used an unidentified object to cause an explosion, the minister said.Television footage from the scene showed police snipers positioned on a balcony across the road from the building as smoke poured out of a top-floor apartment.Police said the operation was ongoing and couldn’t immediately provide further details.Ratingen is located on the northeastern outskirts of Duesseldorf, the state capital.The ...

After 3 years, COVID-19 public health emergency ends

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:25:42 GMT

CHICAGO — After three years, the COVID-19 public health emergency is officially over Thursday.But because Covid is still a threat, both Chicago and Cook County are taking the next steps to ensure care continues.One big change people will notice is that Medicaid recipients will now have to renew their coverage with the state, which they did not need to do for the past three years.Members will need to complete their paperwork by their individual date. Cook County has set up resources to help through it's website and help line. Also, vaccinations and tests may no longer be fully covered. Stroger Hospital and Cook County health clinics, however, will continue to offer community COVID-19 vaccinations and tests. Arwady on COVID public health emergency ending: ‘It doesn’t mean it’s gone’ In Chicago, public immunity is up and hospitalizations are down, but public health officials warn Covid did not go away.“I am the happiest person out there that COVID doesn’t need to be the top of mind a...