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U-Z
- unemployment (chômage).
-
Those in the labour force who do
not have a job, are available to take work and are actively looking for
work are considered unemployed. Those with a job starting in less than a
month are not required to actively seek work to be considered as
unemployed. Economists recognize three forms of unemployment: frictional
unemployment, cyclical unemployment
and structural unemployment.
See also employment.
- unemployment rate
(taux
de chômage).
-
The number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour
force. Because the rate depends on the size of the labour force, even
if new jobs are created it is possible for the rate to remain unchanged or
even increase if the labour force grows.
See also core unemployment rate; seasonal
adjustment.
- unit labour cost
or cost performance (coût
unitaire de main-d'œuvre ou
évolution des coûts).
-
A measure of competitiveness that
compares total wages to total output. Unit labour costs show us how much
output our economy gets relative to wages. If wages rise but productivity
rises faster, unit labour costs fall. Unit labour costs show the combined
effect of changes in productivity and wages on the cost of production.
Higher relative unit labour costs make it harder to be competitive. To
measure the unit labour costs of the Canadian economy, one would divide
Canada's total labour income by its
real gross domestic product.
- value-added tax (VAT)
(taxe
sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA)).
-
A tax that applies to consumer
expenditure. It is charged on the supply of goods and services within
a country by a registered person where such supplies are not exempt or
subject to a zero rate of tax. VAT is also charged on imports. Canada's goods
and services tax is a form of VAT. It applies at each stage of the
production and distribution chain. To ensure that tax applies only once to
the final consideration paid for a consumer expenditure, registered
businesses are entitled to credits for tax paid on inputs into making
taxable supplies.
- wealth tax
(impôt
sur la fortune).
-
Tax imposed either annually (annual net wealth tax) or at death (gift,
inheritance or estate tax) on the net value of assets. Property taxes
levied by provincial and municipal governments are a form of wealth
taxation in Canada.
- widely held bank
(banque
à participation multiple).
-
A bank
owned by many shareholders, with no individual owner
holding sufficient shares to exercise control over the bank. Under
the Bank Act, no shareholder can own more than 20 per cent of any
class of voting shares or 30 per cent of any class of non-voting shares.
See also: closely
held bank.
- World Bank
(Banque
mondiale).
-
An agency of the United Nations established at the end of the Second
World War to promote post-war economic recovery, development and trade,
principally by providing development finance. The Bank promotes economic
development and growth in developing
countries by providing investment
resources (e.g., capital and expertise) in support of development projects
and microeconomic policy reforms that contribute to growth. For more
information, visit the World Bank
Web site.
World Trade Organization (WTO) (Organisation
mondiale du commerce (OMC)).
-
Established on January 1, 1995 to replace the Secretariat of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the WTO is the cornerstone of the
world trading system. It provides the principal contractual obligation
determining how governments frame and implement trade legislation and
regulations. It is also the multilateral platform on which trade relations
among countries evolve through collective debate, negotiation and
adjudication. For more information, visit the World
Trade Organization Web site.
year-over-year change (variation
d'une année sur l'autre).
-
The change from one period to the same period a year later.
Year-over-year changes are often reported when month-to-month or
quarter-to-quarter changes have regular seasonal fluctuations (such as
retail sales rising just before Christmas), which can mask underlying
trends.
zero-rated goods and services (biens
et services détaxés).
-
Under the goods and services tax,
certain categories of goods and services are taxed at a "zero"
rate, rather than at the general rate of 6 per cent. Vendors do not
charge GST on their sales of zero-rated goods and services. However,
vendors are entitled to claim input tax
credits to recover any GST they paid on inputs used to produce
zero-rated products. As a result, zero-rated goods and services are
tax-free. Major categories of zero-rated sales include basic groceries,
prescription drugs, medical devices, and most agricultural and fishing
industry inputs.
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