National Business

TORONTO — It's no joke, but Canada's main stock index started the quarter slightly higher as the energy sector climbed despite crude oil prices dipping below US$100 per barrel. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 62.

TORONTO — DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC) says Canadian auto sales were down nearly 20 per cent in March compared with the same time last year, even as the auto industry had hopes for a spring sales pop.

CALGARY — The Calgary Real Estate Board says last month set a new record for sales activity as 4,107 homes changed hands.

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York, voted to unionize on Friday, marking the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history and handing an unexpected win to a nascent group that fueled the union drive.

TORONTO — Wesley Yue’s staff race against the clock every day. When orders arrive through an app, “riders” at his grocery delivery company Ninja have just 10 minutes to round up items and get them to customers via e-bike.

DETROIT (AP) — New vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to average at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026, up from about 28 mpg, under new federal rules unveiled Friday that undo a rollback of standards enacted under President Donald Trump.

America’s employers extended a streak of robust hiring in March, adding 431,000 jobs in a sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of a still-destructive pandemic, Russia's war against Ukraine and the highest inflation in 40 years.

TORONTO — Unifor says it has reached a tentative agreement with Metro Inc. covering more than 900 full-time workers at a Toronto-area distribution centre.

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in Europe soared to another record, according to new EU figures released Friday, in a fresh sign that rising energy prices fueled by Russia’s war in Ukraine are squeezing consumers and adding pressure on the central bank to ra

CALGARY — Cannabis retailer High Tide Inc. has signed a deal to buy two stores in Alberta for $2.2 million in shares. The company says it will acquire the company operating as Boreal Cannabis Company, which has a store in Slave Lake, Alta.