Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more.

Canada’s unemployment rate in August climbs to nine-year high outside of pandemicOpen this photo in gallery:

People line up at a Service Canada office in Montreal. Data show that the bulk of job losses in August were in part-time work.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

The Canadian economy shed 66,000 jobs in August, largely in part-time work, and the unemployment rate jumped to 7.1 per cent. Outside of the pandemic, the unemployment rate is at the highest level since 2016, Statistics Canada said Friday, rising from 6.9 per cent in July. Meanwhile, the number of job losses in August was at the worst level since January 2022. It is the latest sign that the labour market is reeling from prohibitive U.S. tariffs, Vanmala Subramaniam reports. The tariffs on Canadian goods have been squeezing the economy for several months, with gross domestic product tumbling at a 1.6-per-cent annualized rate in the second quarter.

The Bank of Canada could be pushed to cut its benchmark interest rate – currently at 2.75 per cent – at its next meeting in under two weeks. Market-implied odds of a quarter-point rate cut by the central bank this month surged to about 90 per cent in the wake of weaker-than-expected jobs report. The Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve will both make their policy decisions on Sept. 17.

Ottawa to delay electric-vehicle mandate to aid tariff-hit automakersOpen this photo in gallery:

Honda employees work along the vehicle assembly line in Alliston, Ont.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the Liberal government is delaying mandatory sales targets for electric vehicles as one of a series of new measures aimed at supporting sectors badly hit by the ongoing trade disputes with the United States. He also announced a new “strategic response fund” with $5-billion to assist affected companies, expand existing loan programs for small- and medium-sized businesses, increase cash advances available to the canola sector and a new biofuel production incentive. The measures also include an expansion of employment insurance, a “re-skilling package” for up to 50,000 workers and a new policy to ensure the federal government is buying from Canadian suppliers.

As Laura Stone and Stephanie Levitz report, the Carney government’s decision to hit pause on the EV mandate follows months of pressure from the auto sector, which warned that with the tariffs imposed by the U.S. and slumping EV sales across the board, the program could dramatically hurt the industry.

Decoder: Canada’s trade diversification push goes into reverse

Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly emphasized the need for Canada to diversify its trading partners beyond the United States, but economists have warned it will take considerable time for Canada to establish stronger trade ties with the rest of the world. Latest numbers from Statistics Canada show that exports to countries other than the U.S. fell 8.6 per cent in July from the month before, after a 4.2-per-cent drop in June. Jason Kirby writes that it is “a stark reminder that the push to reduce the country’s exposure to its largest, yet unreliable, trading partner will be a long process.” Take a closer look at the numbers in this week’s Decoder series.

Manulife is steering Wegovy and Mounjaro patients to Shoppers pharmaciesOpen this photo in gallery:

Pharmacists and patients who spoke to The Globe and Mail say patients are being asked to speak with a Shoppers Drug Mart representative before Manulife will approve their claims for GLP-1 drugs.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

Manulife Financial Group is steering patients who take the popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro to Shoppers Drug Mart to fill prescriptions. Chris Hannay, Clare O’Hara and Susan Krashinsky Robertson spoke to pharmacists and patients who say Manulife has rejected claims on GLP-1 drugs until patients speak to a Shoppers Drug Mart representative who encourages them to fill their prescriptions at pharmacies owned by grocery giant Loblaw Cos. Ltd.

It is not the first time Manulife and Shoppers have struck this type of arrangement. Deals between insurers and pharmacies, known as preferred provider networks, were thrust into the spotlight back in early 2024, but the arrangement was cancelled after triggering patient and political backlash.

Canada’s fight to preserve North American trade is just beginning: A guide to the USMCA renewal talksOpen this photo in gallery:

Flags of the U.S., Canada and Mexico fly next to each other in Detroit, Mich., in August, 2018.Rebecca Cook/Reuters

In the coming weeks, the United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is expected to kick off consultations over the renewal of the continental free trade pact, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. That will formally start the clock on one of the most consequential trade negotiations in Canada’s history. The USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, in 2020, was always scheduled to be reviewed after six years, with July 1, 2026 as the formal renewal date. Like NAFTA before it, the USMCA underpins trillions of dollars of trade, and provides the foundation for North America’s integrated supply chains. It has also shielded Canada and Mexico from the worst of Mr. Trump’s global trade war.

Mark Rendell takes a look at how the USMCA renewal process will play out over the coming year, along with the U.S. and Canada’s demands and the potential outcomes for a deal that governs roughly $2.5-trillion in annual trade.

Vancouver-based Teck Resources is planning an overhaul of its underperforming QB2 copper mine. Where is the mine located?

a. Chile

b. Democratic Republic of the Congo

c. Northern British Columbia

d. Panama

a. Chile. Teck Resources said it is undertaking a shake-up at its Quebrada Blanca – or QB2 – site and cutting ties with its chief operating officer as it struggles with long-standing operational problems at the Chilean mine. Teck put the high-altitude mine in the mountains of northern Chile into production in 2023.

Get the rest of the questions from the weekly business and investing news quiz here, and prepare for the week ahead with The Globe’s investing calendar.