Article source: ConstructConnect

• Canada has been announcing its economic support measures piecemeal. First up was the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to provide income aid for individuals newly laid off or unable to find employment for a variety of reasons, including a need to stay home and look after children released from school attendance. Following in short order have been payroll supplements to help businesses survive, measures to assist students who won’t be able to find summer jobs, rent relief for commercial tenants in danger of defaulting and extra cash to be sent to seniors.

• Most recently, there has been the LEEFF (Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility) initiative, providing bridge financing for some of the nation’s largest corporations. To qualify, companies must agree to conditions placed on dividend payouts and executive compensation and to be on board with environmental cleanup goals. There’s also expansion of BCAP (the Business Credit Availability Program) to include more mid-sized firms. Canada’s fiscal deficit this year (April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021) is expected to be -$250 billion.

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Article source: ConstructConnect

• The U.S. seasonally adjusted (SA) unemployment rate in April was 14.7% and the not seasonally adjusted (NSA) figure was 14.4%. Both those numbers understate the true out-of-work situation in the country.

• Crucially, the labor force participation rate in the U.S. dropped from 62.6% in March to 60.0% in April (both NSA). When asked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in its ‘household’ survey if they were actively seeking work, 6.9 million individuals responded in the negative. They didn’t see any point. They didn’t believe they had any prospect, under coronavirus pandemic circumstances, of gaining a position at this time. Many of those respondents were young adults newly laid off in the hotel, restaurant and bar business. ‘Not seeking employment’ meant they were excluded from the labor pool. If the participation rate in April had stayed the same as in March, America’s NSA unemployment rate would have been 18.1%.

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