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Related: Why gold stocks cost less, but are more expensive – Financial Post

Not so indebted after all

We’re not in as bad shape as the Americans when it comes to the amount of debt we owe relative to what we earn. So says Diana Petramala, economist for TD Economics, who points out that if you adjust Canadian households’ debt-to-disposable income ratio to make it comparable to the similar U.S. figure, Canada’s household debt levels are nowhere close to the U.S. peak, reports the Financial Post‘s John Shmuel. “There are differences in the methodologies used to calculate both debt and income,” she said. “There are also differences in how health care is funded in Canada and the U.S. that should be factored into the amount of personal disposable income households have to help service their debt.” In the fourth quarter of last year, Canada’s household debt-to-disposable income ratio hit a record 163%, according to Statistics Canada. That would place it in line with the 163% reached by U.S. households in 2007, right before the economy imploded. But bringing the numbers more into line yields a Canadian debt level of 156%, compared with 152% in the U.S., which is still far off from the 177% peak U.S. households hit in 2007.

Related: OECD calls on Canada to address long-term unemployment – Canadian Press

There goes the Sun

Oh it’s tough being in the newspaper business. Sun Media Corp. announced Tuesday it is cutting 360 jobs and closing eight of its local publications as well as three of its free commuter papers as it searches for more cost savings while print revenues continue to decline, reports the Financial Post‘s Christine Dobby. The Quebecor Inc.-owned company said the restructuring changes are expected to lead to $55-million in annual savings. Julie Tremblay, chief operating officer at Sun Media, attributed the cuts to the “unprecedented transformation” sweeping the print publishing industry. “The management decisions we are making are difficult and highly regrettable, particularly the job cuts,” she said in a statement. “However, the downsizing is necessary to maintain a strong positioning for our new media outlets on all platforms and more broadly to secure our corporation’s future success in an industry that is being revolutionized by the advent of digital.” The company said it decided to focus on a single urban newspaper in each market except for Toronto and Montreal, where it also publishes the Toronto Sun and Le Journal de Montreal and where mass transit systems justify the continuation of the free dailies as well.

Related: Quebecor profit falls 50% on higher costs – Financial Post

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