BREAKING American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
The economy bounced back sharply in the third quarter of the year after taking a walloping in the preceding three-month stretch, in a demonstration of what may be in store as COVID-19 concerns wane and Canadians start spending anew.
Statistics Canada said Tuesday the economy grew at an annual rate of 5.4 per cent in the third quarter of this year as COVID-19 restrictions eased and household spending rose.
The result was a rebound from a contraction in the second quarter that Statistics Canada also said Tuesday was deeper than it previously reported.
Quarterly growth in household spending was one of the largest on record. Consumers spent their money at restaurants, bars, hotels and on air travel, which jumped 181.9 per cent as more travellers took to the skies.
Offsetting those soaring figures was floundering business investment and lower consumer spending on goods like cars.
TD senior economist Sri Thanabalasingam said growth in real domestic product could have been even stronger in the third quarter it not for global supply-chain issues.
But celebrations were quickly grounded by severe flooding in British Columbia, and concerns about a new, possibly more transmissible variant of COVID-19.
CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfled said the Omicron variant, a potential retightening of restriction and the need for booster shots could all affect the next leg of the economic recovery,
“A summer lull in COVID worries brought Canadians out to party, and their spending spree was fun while it lasted,” he wrote in a note, “but we're facing new concerns about whether a more vaccine-resistant variant could set back the timetable for further growth.”
Statistics Canada said the third quarter ended with the economy edging up by 0.1 per cent in September, as broad gains in service industries were offset by declines in manufacturing that was partly pulled down by a global shortage of semiconductor chips.
The agency also said preliminary data suggests the economy grew by 0.8 per cent in October to start the final quarter of the year, led by manufacturing.
Statistics Canada said that with that estimate, total economic activity was about 0.5 per cent below the pre-pandemic level recorded in February 2020.
Stephen Brown, senior Canada economist with Capital Economics, said the shortfall should be made up by the end of this year or early next. He also said the path for the economy should lead the Bank of Canada to raise its trendsetting interest rate by the middle of 2022.
“Certainly, we're getting to the final stages of a recovery here and starting to think about tightening (monetary) policy,” Brown said.
The federal government has already tightened its pandemic purse strings. In October, the Trudeau Liberals ended broad benefits to workers and businesses in favour of more targeted support outlined in a bill now before the House of Commons.
The parliamentary budget officer on Tuesday estimated more targeted rent support to still hurting businesses would push the overall price tag for the supplement to $8.3 billion.
In two other reports, the PBO estimated the cost of extending pandemic sickness benefits to May would cost $373.8 million, and $554 million to add extra weeks of eligibility to the federal caregiving benefit.
Statistics Canada noted that government transfers dropped in the third quarter as employee compensation rose 2.9 per cent, which was one of the largest bumps over the last two decades.
The extra spending outpaced the growth in disposable income, which dropped the savings rate to 11 per cent from 14 per cent in the second quarter. The savings rate is still well above pre-pandemic levels.
“Households are well-prepared to deal with potential challenges ahead, and there is still plenty of gas in the tank to fuel an eventual comeback in the service sector,” wrote BMO chief economist Douglas Porter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2021
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, 'Ramblin' Man,' has died. He was 80.
A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.