National Business

OTTAWA — Canada's agriculture industry will have a domestic labour gap of more than 100,000 jobs by 2030, according to a new report.

VANCOUVER — A new report ahead of next week's B.C. budget is forecasting slower economic growth for the province this year.

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans pulled back their spending more than expected in January after the traditional holiday season splurge. Retail sales fell 0.8% in January from the strong pace in December when they rose a revised 0.

TORONTO — The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board says its fund earned a net return of 3.4 per cent in its latest quarter.

TORONTO — As many Canadians try to squeeze every last dollar out of their budget to cope with the soaring cost of living, financial experts say cutting expenses to the bone is not always a viable option and they should instead focus on increasing the

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales fell in December, weighed down by production slowdowns for retooling at some auto assembly plants in Ontario. The agency says manufacturing sales fell 0.7 per cent to $71.

Fewer Americans filed for jobless claims last week as the labor market continues to show resilience in the face of elevated interest rates intended to cool economic growth in the U.S.

MONTREAL — MTY Food Group Inc. reported its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled compared with a year ago. The restaurant franchisor and operator says it earned $16.4 million or 67 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Nov. 30, up from $7.

WINNIPEG — Great-West Lifeco Inc. says its fourth-quarter net earnings were $740 million, up from $452 million during the same quarter last year. Net earnings per common share were 79 cents, up from 48 cents for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023.

VANCOUVER — West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. says it lost US$153 million in its fourth quarter, a steeper loss than US$94 million a year earlier. Sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were US$1.5 billion, down from US$1.6 billion.