In this edition:
- Niagara unemployment rate dips down to 7%
- Sleep Cheap Charities Reap reservation dates & details announced
- Ball’s Falls designated as a heritage property
- Former St. Catharines’ YMCA property will be redeveloped into housing
- Total value of building permits issued in Niagara plummets over 43%
- Businesses continue to express muted inflation concerns
- Gas prices expected to rise this Thanksgiving long weekend
- 7-Eleven to close more than 400 stores in Canada and the U.S.
- Focus on Human Resources
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Photo credit: Pixel-Shot / Adobe Stock
Niagara unemployment rate dips down to 7%
The unemployment rate for the St. Catharines-Niagara Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) fell to 7% in September, today’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) results have shown. August’s rate was 7.5%.
National employment rose by 47,000 (+0.2%) in September while the employment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 60.7%. The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 6.5%. Ontario added 43,200 jobs in September.
Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, said that “Ontario is once again leading the nation in job creation,” citing Site Selection Magazine‘s decision to name Ontario the most competitive province for investment for the third consecutive year, and calling out the $200 million investment by Jungbunzlauer to expand their production facility in Port Colborne as a specific example of job creation in the province.
Image credit: City of Niagara Falls
Sleep Cheap Charities Reap reservation dates & details announced
Sleep Cheap Charities Reap, a long-standing community tradition, returns for its 21st year this November, having raised over $2.5 million for nearly 100 different local charities since its inception in 2004.
Available exclusively to Niagara Region residents, Sleep Cheap offers discounted rates at many participating Niagara Falls hotels.
Photo credit: Town of Lincoln
Ball’s Falls designated as a heritage property
Photo credit: Alphabet / Google streetview screenshot
Former St. Catharines’ YMCA property will be redeveloped into housing
Photo credit: Francesco Scatena / Adobe Stock
Total value of building permits issued in Niagara plummets over 43%
The total value of building permits in Niagara fell from $123.2M in July to only $70M in August, Statistics Canada reported today, representing a drop of 43.2%. The value of issued permits in August 2024 was 73.6% lower than in August 2023.
The total value of permits in Canada decreased by $858.1 million (-7.0%) to $11.5 billion in August, following a strong July during which construction intentions rose sharply (+20.8%). The residential and non-residential sectors contributed to the decrease in August.
Photo credit: wichayada / Adobe Stock
Businesses continue to express muted inflation concerns while consumer expectations are returning to normal
Businesses continue to experience muted inflationary pressures: demand is weak, firms have excess capacity, and price growth continues to slow. These pressures are little changed from last quarter, the latest edition of the The Business Outlook Survey reveals.
Meanwhile, consumers’ perceptions of current inflation and their expectations for inflation over the next year have declined this quarter, although they remain higher than they were before the COVID‑19 pandemic. In addition, expectations for inflation two years from now have declined significantly from last quarter and have returned to their pre‑pandemic level.
Photo credit: alexanderuhrin / Adobe Stock
Gas prices expected to rise this Thanksgiving long weekend
If you’re travelling this Thanksgiving Day long weekend, you’d do best to fill up on gas Friday or face higher fuel costs later.
Gas prices are expected to rise four cents per litre Saturday, Oct. 12, said Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy.
Photo credit: Jerome / Adobe Stock
7-Eleven to close more than 400 stores in Canada and the U.S.
7-Eleven’s parent company plans to close 444 “underperforming” stores across North America.
The news comes as the company works to fend off an unsolicited takeover bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Did you know?
Focus on Human Resources
Why leadership teams fail
Through the Daily Updates, the GNCC aims to deliver important business news in a timely manner. We disseminate all news and information we feel will be important to businesses. Inclusion in the Daily Update is not an endorsement by the GNCC.
