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25/02/2010 -
This week was a positive one for Canada in terms of spending power, for both consumers and businesses. Statistics Canada reported Thursday that the country's non-farm payroll employment increased by 22,000 in December over November's figure, marking the fourth consecutive month of "modest gains" and continuing the upward trend seen since August 2009.
In addition, average weekly earnings of payroll employees, including overtime, rose 2.8 percent since December 2008 to reach $837.08 in December 2009. Statistics Canada notes that this was the fastest year-over-year growth in weekly earnings since employment peaked in October 2008.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Statistics Canada reported that Canadian business operating profits rose 7.9 percent - or $4.4 billion - between the third and fourth quarters of 2009, reaching $60.1 billion in the fourth quarter.
Though this is still less than the $77.3 billion high seen in the third quarter of 2008, it does represent the second quarter of growth since the record low of $50.2 billion seen in the second quarter of 2009.
As both businesses and consumers regain spending power on the heels of these gains, Canadian merchants would be well-advised to ensure their POS terminals and other payment processing infrastructure are up to date and capable of handling an influx of activity.
