Mark Carney’s Canadian Economy Is Burning Red Hot

Canada’s economy continues to outperform expectations.

New numbers released by Statistics Canada show the country added 75,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.4 per cent, its lowest level in two years.

For reference, Donald Trump’s USA lost 23,000 jobs!! Take that, you orange buffoon!

Back to Canada…….

Employment increased by 0.4 per cent, with gains split between both full-time and part-time work.

Perhaps even more encouraging, this marks the third consecutive monthly decline in the unemployment rate, which has now fallen 0.5 percentage points since April. Compared with one year ago, unemployment is also down 0.5 percentage points.

The labour market isn’t just creating jobs, it’s becoming easier for unemployed Canadians to find them.

Statistics Canada says the job-finding rate, the percentage of unemployed people who successfully found work between June and July, rose to 20.8 per cent, up from 18.5 per cent during the same period last year.

Ontario led the country in job creation, adding 52,000 jobs in July, driven primarily by growth in the professional, scientific and technical services sector.

British Columbia followed with 18,000 new jobs, while Manitoba added 5,900 jobs and Nova Scotia gained 4,600.

Since April alone, Canada has created 181,000 jobs, while total employment is up 196,000 compared with this time last year.

The July report follows two other strong employment reports in May and June, suggesting the labour market has maintained significant momentum through the summer.

Despite the strong economic news, one major uncertainty remains.

The threat of new tariffs from Donald Trump continues to hang over the Canadian economy.

According to reporting from CBC News, negotiations between Canada and the United States remain active.

Canada is reportedly willing to discuss changes surrounding restrictions on U.S. alcohol imports, as well as elements of the automotive and dairy sectors.

However, the federal government is not prepared to dismantle Canada’s supply management system, although it may be willing to negotiate certain import quotas.

One of Canada’s primary objectives is preventing the proposed 50 per cent tariffs from taking effect on August 19.

Canadian negotiators have warned their American counterparts that if those tariffs are implemented, the political environment in Canada would make any concessions or further negotiations impossible.

Canada is also seeking reductions to the sector-specific Section 232 tariffs, though officials acknowledge that a complete elimination of those tariffs is not considered realistic while Donald Trump remains in the White House.

Meanwhile, the Carney government has quietly reversed part of an earlier decision to reduce health-care coverage for refugees and asylum seekers.

Earlier this year, the federal government introduced changes to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) after committing to reduce spending.

Beginning in May, many refugees and asylum claimants were required to pay 30 per cent of the cost of certain health services, medical supplies and assistive devices that had previously been fully covered. Prescription medications also became subject to a $4 co-payment.

However, last week Medavie Blue Cross, the program’s administrator, advised health-care providers that several important services would once again receive full coverage.

Items such as feeding supplies, respiratory devices, implantable hearing aids, nursing home care and hospital-based rehabilitation have now been moved into a coverage category that eliminates patient co-payments.

While the government has not restored every previous benefit, the move represents a partial reversal of cuts that had drawn criticism from health-care providers and refugee advocacy organizations.

Canada’s economy continues to produce jobs at a pace few expected just a few months ago, with unemployment falling to its lowest level in two years and nearly 200,000 jobs added over the past twelve months.

Whether that momentum continues may depend less on what happens in Ottawa than on what happens in Washington.

With trade negotiations entering a critical stage and the threat of new U.S. tariffs still hanging over the Canadian economy, the coming weeks could prove to be just as important as today’s encouraging employment numbers.

Here’s what Bloomberg’s chief editor had to say about Carney…..