Recently tagged economy
Brent at $100
Here’s a bit of comparative math for you.
When Finance Minister Tom Marshall brought down the budget last spring, the province was expecting to run a deficit of $194.3 million … give or take a few grand.
Another key figure in that budget: the government was expecting Brent oil (Newfoundland and Labrador uses the coarser Brent, rather the more popular index of light sweet crude, for its budget work) to trade around $83 throughout the year.
You may have heard that that deficit projection has been scratched, and that the government is now expecting to run a small surplus.
Here’s one reason why, and why - if this keeps up - the surplus may not be so small, in a market roundup report today:
Brent crude oil, the benchmark for oil prices in Europe and Asia, closed on the ICE futures exchange up $1.59, or 1.6 per cent, at $101.01.
You can read more about the market turmoil here.
You can also do the math, that is, the sorts of calculations that must be causing smiles at Confederation Building, for yourself.
Tags: Tom Marshall, economy, oil
Call-centre turnaround?
We here in the newsroom had been under the impression that there’s been a sag in the call-centre industry. We’ve heard of layoffs, fewer openings, and a decline in contracts from the U.S., where the economy has been in brutal shape for the last couple of years.
A news release this afternoon caught our eye. Convergys is holding a job fair on Tuesday afternoon to fill 120 jobs at a contact centre on Torbay Road in St. John’s. Convergys is looking ” for potential employees who will provide customer service, billing and technical support for a client in the entertainment industry.”
If call centres are an indication of the state of the broader national if not international economy, a hiring boom may be significant.
Is our hunch right? Let us know.
