The Canadian economy lost 34,400 jobs in December, driving the unemployment rate to 6.6 percent, Statistics Canada said in a fresh sign of recession gripping the nation.
It was the second month of heavy job losses, after 70,600 were shed in November. The unemployment rate rose to 6.6 percent from 6.3 percent in the prior month.
The numbers were worse than most analysts's projections of 22,000 job losses and a 6.5 percent jobless rate in December.
And Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the situation will only get worse in the short term.
"We're in for a very difficult year," Flaherty told reporters. "We regrettably are going to have to expect continuing job losses in Canada.
"We are going to have substantial job losses," he added.
December's employment decline was led by a drop in construction, one of the biggest monthly losses for that industry in the past three decades.
Some 44,000 construction jobs were lost, as housing starts decreased to their lowest level in seven years the previous month, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
This was partially offset by an increase in transportation and warehousing.
"The job market is running out of steam," said analyst Pascal Gauthier of TD Securities.
"We believe that the Canadian economy entered a recession in the fourth quarter. Or if we're not there yet, we're knocking at the door," he told the media.
Sherry Cooper, chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, echoed in a research note: "Today's dismal data offer additional strong evidence that the Canadian economy has quickly waded knee-deep into the recession swamp."
For all of 2008, Canada's employment rate increased 0.6 percent with the creation of a total 98,000 jobs, significantly slower than the 2.2 percent job growth observed the previous year.
Gauthier too commented that the dismal December figures are "indicative of what's to come."
"In a typical recession, we can expect 15,000 to 30,000 jobs being cut each month," he said.
But Canada is still faring better than its neighbor and biggest trading partner, the United States, Flaherty and analysts agreed.
The United States lost 524,000 jobs in December.
Agencies
Showing posts with label lost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lost. Show all posts
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Geneva banks lost more than $4 billion to Madoff, says a report
Geneva-based banks and investment funds have lost more than 5 billion Swiss francs ($4.22 billion) in the alleged $50 billion fraud by former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported on Saturday.
Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), a leading bank for investment in funds of hedge funds, has lost about 1 billion Swiss francs, said Le Temps, which spoke to various unnamed banking sources for its article.
A spokesman for UBP said the bank had no comment with regards to the article. UBP had 127 billion Swiss francs of assets under management at the end of June.
Geneva-based private bank Benedict Hentsch said on Friday its exposure to Madoff products was 56 million francs, or 5 percent of its asset under management.
The bank merged three months ago with alternative investment specialist Fairfield Greenwich Group, which has invested $7.5 billion or half of its assets in one of the funds set up by Madoff.
Le Temps quoted one of Benedict Hentsch's partners as saying he and another partner were rushing to New York to break the agreement with Fairfield.
The EIM Group, active in hedge funds, has said it is affected by $230 million or about 2 percent of its $11.5 billion assets under management, the paper reported. No one was available to answer phone calls at the bank and there was no reply to a request for comment via email.
Le Temps also said that Notz, Stucki & Cie, a group that offers portfolio management for wealthy individuals, has also been hit by the Madoff scandal. No one was available to answer phone calls at the bank and a phone message was not returned.
The vast majority of Geneva-based family offices have also been touched by the Madoff scandal, the newspaper said. Benbassat & Cie had invested 1.1 billion francs in the Madoff funds, Le Temps said. Telephone calls to the bank were not answered an email message was not returned.
Private bank Syz & Co told Le Temps that its 3A fund was not exposed to Madoff. But it did not give details about a possible direct exposure of its private banking clients, the paper said.
Bank Pictet & Cie said it had "never chosen any of the funds linked to Bernard Madoff in our hedge funds investment strategy."
Thierry Lombard, of private bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, was quoted as saying: "the Madoff universe has never been on our list of in-house funds nor in any of the open architecture funds."
Private bank Mirabaud said: "We have an exposure of a few millions, not of tens of millions."
Source: Agencies
Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), a leading bank for investment in funds of hedge funds, has lost about 1 billion Swiss francs, said Le Temps, which spoke to various unnamed banking sources for its article.
A spokesman for UBP said the bank had no comment with regards to the article. UBP had 127 billion Swiss francs of assets under management at the end of June.
Geneva-based private bank Benedict Hentsch said on Friday its exposure to Madoff products was 56 million francs, or 5 percent of its asset under management.
The bank merged three months ago with alternative investment specialist Fairfield Greenwich Group, which has invested $7.5 billion or half of its assets in one of the funds set up by Madoff.
Le Temps quoted one of Benedict Hentsch's partners as saying he and another partner were rushing to New York to break the agreement with Fairfield.
The EIM Group, active in hedge funds, has said it is affected by $230 million or about 2 percent of its $11.5 billion assets under management, the paper reported. No one was available to answer phone calls at the bank and there was no reply to a request for comment via email.
Le Temps also said that Notz, Stucki & Cie, a group that offers portfolio management for wealthy individuals, has also been hit by the Madoff scandal. No one was available to answer phone calls at the bank and a phone message was not returned.
The vast majority of Geneva-based family offices have also been touched by the Madoff scandal, the newspaper said. Benbassat & Cie had invested 1.1 billion francs in the Madoff funds, Le Temps said. Telephone calls to the bank were not answered an email message was not returned.
Private bank Syz & Co told Le Temps that its 3A fund was not exposed to Madoff. But it did not give details about a possible direct exposure of its private banking clients, the paper said.
Bank Pictet & Cie said it had "never chosen any of the funds linked to Bernard Madoff in our hedge funds investment strategy."
Thierry Lombard, of private bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, was quoted as saying: "the Madoff universe has never been on our list of in-house funds nor in any of the open architecture funds."
Private bank Mirabaud said: "We have an exposure of a few millions, not of tens of millions."
Source: Agencies
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