Economics Newsletter – Week of February 8th 2021

Written By: Amit Shteyer & Hannah Lobbezoo

Canada’s Economy at a Glance

Economics Society News, Events, and Articles

News:

Register for our event called ‘How to become the top 1% candidate during your career search’ hosted by Mentoring Learners! Taking place on Friday, February 19th, 12 – 1pm. Link in our Instagram Bio.

Articles:

The Good, the Bad & the Rich of COVID-19 by Rohin Patel

News and Noteworthy

Canada’s terrible vaccine rollout is putting the economy at risk and we should be outraged
Canada currently holds the 38th place worldwide in vaccine rollout and is quickly making its way further down the list. This will cause Canada to fall behind as other countries begin to grow their economies and approach the post-COVID ideal. Read More.

Cryptocurrency boom is ‘speculative mania,’ Bank of Canada deputy says
An official from the Bank of Canada has stated that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin do not have the ability to become the ‘money of the future’. Unstable purchasing power and expensive verification methods make these less than ideal payment methods. Read More.

Canadian economy sheds 213K jobs in January as lockdowns hit part-time workers
Employment fell to its lowest level since August 2020 with a rise in the unemployment rate of 0.6 percentage points to 9.4%. The main losses were in Ontario and Quebec in the retail and services sectors as heavy lockdowns took place throughout the month. Read More.

Economists don’t expect Global migration to return to pre-pandemic levels and that could threaten recovery
COVID-19 has stopped the flow of migration, and has stunted economic growth that goes along with it. However, it is the migrants that face the brunt affects. Read More.

Coronavirus: Coffee shops battle to stay in business amid pandemic
The pandemic has caused restaurants, bars, and coffee shops to experience reduced sales and temporary shutdowns. Coffee shops have had to rethink their products and strategy to weather the storm. Read More.

45% of all TSX trades were from retail investors in January, CEO says
Retail investors aren’t only growing in numbers in the US, but in Canada as well. In January of 2021, retail investor participation in TMX Group Ltd. rose to 45% compared to 35% a year ago, and they aren’t expected to go away. Read More.

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