Some sobering numbers today fromStatistics Canada:
* The Canadian job market lost 42,000 jobs in May
* The unemployment rate jumped 0.4% to 8.4%, its highest level in 11 years
* In Ontario, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.4%, its highest level in 15 years
And since October, since the last election, where Stephen "lassiez faire I don't care" Harper promised if there was going to be a recession it would have happened already and said we should trust him because he's an economist, the Canadian economy has retracted by 2.1 per cent and 363,000 jobs have been lost.
And the government isn't helping. Municipalities are complaining they have "shovel-ready" projects ready to go, but the Harper Conservatives are stalling on the cash:
But so far, cities have not received the cash they need to break ground, Carl Zehr, mayor of Kitchener, Ont., said on Thursday at the annual Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Whistler, B.C. “Our shovels are ready, and we're simply waiting for the money,” he said.Three months have come and gone without any cash flowing, a delay long enough that it likely precludes any project starting this summer, other mayors said. “This construction season is virtually lost,” Toronto Mayor David Miller said.
Harper and Jim "$50 billion deficit" Flaherty warned stimulus funds had to be out the door within 120 days to be effective. That deadline passed last week, and with only 6% out the door, their effort can only be termed a massive failure.
UPDATE: The headlines tell the tale:
3 comments:
This is why I'm so angry that Michael Ignatieff voted for Stephen Harper's do-nothing economic plan.
You're right, he's been stalling terribly and demonstrated clearly that he doesn't care.
Now, if only there was a way we could have replaced him ... or was all this really so unpredictable back last January ... ?
Exactly how is it breaking a record if it's at the same rate it was 11 years ago? When the Liberal's changed the EI qualifying rules to what they are now unemployment was at 9.7%. At the time they decided to make changes unemployment was at 10.2%.
Or did you mean it's a record because it's lower than the unemployment rate under the Liberal's from 1993 until 1998.
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