National Business

Canadians are increasingly showing signs of being fed up with airlines, which are offering travel vouchers rather than refunds to passengers whose flights have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (14,884.85, down 112.78 points.) Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX:SLF). Financials. Up 18 cents, or 0.38 per cent, to $47.06 on 25.

TORONTO — Potential U.S. retaliation against China over COVID-19 and continuously high jobless claims pushed North American stock markets lower on Thursday. Tensions between the world's two largest economies have been rising with efforts in the U.S.

WASHINGTON — Signs of renewed business activity are surfacing across the country as states gradually reopen economies and some businesses call a portion of their laid-off staffers back to work.

The coronavirus pandemic that forced the shutdown of businesses across Rhode Island sent the state’s unemployment rate soaring to 17% in April, the state Department of Labor and Training announced Thursday. That’s up from 4.7% in March and 3.

As publishers try to deal with the massive disruption to the book industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are bracing for another big blow that could arrive over the coming weeks as more retailers open their doors.

FREDERICTON — The New Brunswick government is now forecasting a deficit of $299 million dollars for 2020-21, instead of the $92 million surplus it projected when it released its budget this spring.

CALGARY — The operators of the $9.7-billion Sturgeon Refinery say it is now processing oilsands bitumen as designed after two years of delays blamed mainly on equipment failures.

More retailers have announced layoffs and store closures at their Canadian operations as they continue to grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada Goose Holdings Inc. announced Wednesday it would lay off 125 employees, or about 2.

CALGARY — Canada's oilfield services sector is in for "an immense amount of pain" over at least the next year thanks to low North American oil and gas exploration activity amid a worldwide glut of cheap crude, according to a report from CIBC.