National Business

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.

TORONTO — Manulife Financial Corp. says it had a net income attributed to shareholders of $1.66 billion for the quarter ending Dec. 31, up 81 per cent from $915 million in the same quarter last year. The insurance giant reported core earnings of $1.

Thousands of ride-hailing and delivery workers in the U.S. and the U.K. went on strike on Valentine's Day, calling for higher pay and other changes to their working conditions. In the U.S.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (20,889.40, up 304.43 points): Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Down $1.23, or 2.65 per cent, to $45.14 on 16.8 million shares.

OTTAWA — Canadian manufacturers of masks and other equipment for protecting against COVID-19 are seeking more than $5 billion in damages from the federal government, saying Ottawa misled them about buying and helping sell their products.