Briefing highlights
- Income gains slow among Canadians
- Mitel bested by rival Polycom bid
- CEO leaves Empire
- Video: Can you protect your job from robots?
Keeping up with the Joneses
Many Canadians just can’t seem to get ahead.
And it’s not going to get any better, Bank of Nova Scotia warns.
“While we anticipate a modest pickup in employment growth in 2017 as the pace of energy-sector layoffs wanes, competitive pressures in both domestic and export markets are expected to slow the recovery in wage and income gains,” Scotiabank’s Derek Holt, Adrienne Warren and Mary Webb said in a recent forecast.
Ms. Warren noted later that the rise in labour compensation eased to just shy of 2 per cent, year over year, in the first quarter.
“While overall trends are being weighed down by weakness in the oil-producing provinces, compensation trends are also fairly modest in provinces with stronger labour markets, including B.C.,” she added.
Scotiabank’s economists project overall compensation, per employee, to be less than 2 per cent on average this year, inching up next year to a shade above that level.
“Given inflation averaging around 2 per cent in both years, this implies a real wage decline in the oil-producing provinces, and only a modest increase in other provinces,” Ms. Warren said.
Jobless rate dips
Canada lost several hundred jobs in June, while the unemployment rate dipped to 6.8 per cent as some people quit looking for work.
British Columbia was the only province to see more jobs, with the others losing.
In the United States, the labour market rebounded to the tune of 287,000 new jobs but a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.9 per cent as more people went hunting for work.
“This should allay fears that the U.S. labour market was entering a prolonged period of slower growth which could have translated into weaker domestic consumption,” said CIBC World Markets economist Royce Mendes.
Mitel bested
Mitel Corp. is quitting its friendly deal for Polycom after its bid was bested by private equity firm Siris Capital.
Mitel’s bid had slipped given the dip in its stock price, and it said today it won’t match the new approach from Siris.
It will, however, walk away with $60-million in break frees.
“While I am disappointed that this particular transaction will not move forward, I am confident in Mitel’s future as an industry leader and as a market consolidator,” said chief executive officer Rich McBee.
Empire shuffles
Marc Poulin is leaving as chief executive offer of Empire Co. in the wake of a huge quarterly loss and big charges.
The company, parent of grocer Sobeys Inc., named chief financial officer Francois Vimard as interim CEO while it searches for a new leader.
“Despite the significant challenges we have faced over the past year, the board is confident that the company is pursuing the right strategy,” said chair Rob Dexter.