CANADIAN EMPLOYMENT DATA (Unemployment rate 9% vs 10.2% in August)
- Canada added 378,000 jobs in September (vs expected 150,000), bringing employment to within 720,000 of the pre-COVID level.
- 334,000 full time
- Work from home 25.6% vs 26.4% M/M
- Employment increased in every province except New Brunswick and PEI
- Alberta added 38,200 jobs in September; unemployment rate 11.7% vs 11.8% in August.
- Edmonton added 3,800 jobs; unemployment rate 12.6% vs 13.6% M/M
- Calgary added 27,000 jobs; unemployment rate 12.6% vs 14.4%
ENERGY
- Alberta’s UCP government is going to table legislation this fall to spur investments in geothermal energy.
- Geothermal process extracts heat in the form of hot water or steam from deep inside the earth
- Can be used to generate electricity through large power turbines
- Provides continuous electricity to the grid
- Drilling for geothermal uses the same rigs, properties and people as the oil and gas industry
- Alberta is on pace to have 12,000 stranded oil and gas wells that are potential geothermal sites
- OPEC sees oil demand plateauing in the late 2030s.
- Oil use is expected to increase to 107.2 million bpd in 2030 from 90.7 million bpd currently (approximately 101 million bpd January 2020)
- Oil use is expected to increase to 97.7 million bpd in 2021 and 99.8 million bpd in 2022
- OPEC says “Future demand will likely remain persistently below past …”
TIDBITS
- Approximately 80% of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in Napa, California will be lost this year to fire and smoke. (Grape skins absorb the smoke)
- The first remote, virtual presidential debate occurred on October 13, 1960 between VP Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy. Nixon was in a Los Angeles studio while Kennedy was in an identical New York studio. Moderators were in a 3rd location in Los Angeles.
- China is taking part in a WHO backed effort to provide a COVID-19 vaccine to developing nations.
- Initiative is $18 billion
- More than 170 countries are now involved
- US is not participating
- Neurological issues have been found in 4 of 5 hospitalized COVID-19 patient, ranging from headaches to confusion or coma. (Source: Northwestern Medicine in Chicago)
- A group of 7 major central banks, include Federal Reserve are laying out a strategy for digital currencies in an effort to catch-up with China and get ahead of private projects like Facebook’s ‘Libra’.
- Bank of Japan is starting digital currency experiments next year.