HARD NUMBERS: Jewish orgs get mass threat, Canada’s inflation keeps falling, Harris’ fundraising dwarfs Trump’s, US jobs numbers revised downward

Shaar Liva Hebrew school and synagogue are operating in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on August 17, 2024
Shaar Liva Hebrew school and synagogue are operating in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on August 17, 2024
Creative Touch Imaging Ltd via Reuters Connect

100: More than 100 Jewish institutions across Canada received an identical bomb threat early Wednesday. The email warned of explosions at synagogues, community centers, and hospitals in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Authorities are investigating but said the risk was “low.” A recent poll showed a quarter of Canadians consider antisemitism a “serious problem.” Last year, attacks on Jews accounted for 70% of all hate crimes in Canada.

40: Annual inflation in Canada fell to its lowest level in about 40 months in July, as prices grew just 2.5%, down from 2.7% a month earlier. The good news is this gives the Bank of Canada room to continue cutting interest rates at its next rate-setting meeting in September. Markets now expect the regulator to slash rates by another 25 basis points, bringing the benchmark to 3.75%.

4: Good vibes make money, money makes good vibes. Kamala Harris’ main campaign fundraising group brought in four times as much money as her opponent Donald Trump’s in July, raising $204 million to the GOP nominee’s $48 million. The vice president also spent three times more than her rival that month as she looked to get herself on a firm footing after President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race.

818,000: The US economy created 818,000 fewer jobs than initially reported in the first quarter of this year, according to a regularly scheduled revision of figures released on Wednesday. If this number holds through the next review of these numbers (in February), it would be the largest downward correction for a quarterly jobs number in 15 years. But look for the Trump campaign to hammer Kamala Harris and the White House over this news well before then…

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