National Business

TORONTO — DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. says auto sales rose 3.7 per cent in March from a year earlier for a fifth month in a row of gains.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings slipped to 9.9 million in February, fewest since May 2021 and a sign that the job market may be starting to cool, which would be welcome news for the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve.

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada says deputy governor Paul Beaudry will be leaving his position at the central bank at the end of July. According to a news release, Beaudry will return to his academic position at the University of British Columbia.

VANCOUVER — The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales fell 42.5 per cent in March from a year ago and were 28.4 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average.

In 2020, Jonathan Atwin and his partner jumped on the personal finance wagon, teaching themselves all about money and how to manage it better. “At the time, we were carrying some debt, so we wanted to try to tackle that,” said Atwin.

TORONTO — CBRE says Canada’s national office vacancy rate hit an all-time high in the first quarter of the year. The real estate firm says the country's overall office vacancy rate amounted to 17.7 per cent, while downtown office vacancies sat at 18.

WINNIPEG — The Canada Life Assurance Co. has signed a deal to acquire wealth management firm Investment Planning Counsel Inc. from IGM Financial Inc. for $575 million.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Environmentalists lost the first round of their legal battle over a major oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope on Monday as a judge rejected their requests to halt immediate construction work related to the Willow

FORT MCKAY, ALBERTA — Oilsands giant Syncrude Canada Ltd. has been charged in the death of a worker north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Major oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia said they're cutting supplies of crude — again. This time, the decision was a surprise and is underlining worries about where the global economy might be headed.