Global Markets: Canada’s jobless rate hits pandemic low

WINNIPEG – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.

– Canada’s economy added 154,000 jobs in November, which brought down the jobless rate to a pandemic-low six per cent, according to a report from Statistics Canada released on Friday. In addition, 183,000 more people had a job last month than pre-pandemic (Feb. 2020). Wages during November were 7.7 per cent higher and prices were 5.3 per cent higher than in Nov. 2019.

– Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told lawmakers on Friday he estimates Russia has 94,300 troops amassed on its eastern border and there is a possible large-scale escalation in late January. Both nations have been in dire diplomatic straits for years, including Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Moscow has denied planning an invasion and accuses Ukraine and the West of covering up their own plans for aggression against Russia.

– Bank of Montreal (BMO) announced on Friday its board has approved a 25-cent increase in its quarterly dividend effective Feb. 28. The bank will also seek approval to buy back 22.5 million shares as its annual profit increased by 53 per cent and net income for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31 rose to C$7.75 billion. All six of Canada’s major banks (BMO, Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TD Bank Group, Scotiabank and National Bank) reported dividend increases and plan on buying back shares.

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