Healthy employment numbers make Wall Street happy

US stocks finished higher on Thursday, after the Labor Department reported fewer new claims for unemployment benefits last week as the economy bounces back from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The data was the latest sign the world's largest economy is roaring back as businesses reopen and authorities ease restrictions imposed last year to fight the virus. The data eclipsed fears of an uptick in inflation that could cause the Federal Reserve to raise rates and increase borrowing costs sooner than expected, which has hit indices in recent weeks, particularly tech.

Investors are looking for more good news when the government releases the allimportant employment report on Friday that is expected to show more strong hiring in April.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average pushed to a new high of 34,548.53 by the close, a gain of 0.9 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to end the day at 4,201.62, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 percent to 13,632.84.

Stocks of Covid-19 vaccine makers continued to suffer after Washington on Wednesday said it would support a global waiver on patent protections for the shots, though the sell-off was less severe than the day before. Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services credited that to traders realizing the complexity of reaching an agreement in the World Trade Organization to allow widespread manufacturing of the vaccines, which Germany is against.

"This has removed a fear," he said. Nonetheless, Pfizer ended one percent lower and Moderna lost 1.4 percent, but Johnson & Johnson gained 0.4 percent.The Canada-US border has been closed since the start of the pandemic more than a year ago, but not for Paul-Maurice Patenaude who operates a parcel handoff service from his house, which straddles the international boundary.

"I am both in Quebec and in the State of New York, look how beautiful it is!" laughs the 82-year-old pensioner, one foot on either side of a black line marking the border through the ground floor of his 200-yearold stone and wood building.

Dozens of packages of all sizes left in his "drop-off" box have been sorted and stored on shelves to await pickup. The imposing threestorey former bar and grocery store has two addresses, and two entrances.

One is on the south side, in New York State, where are parcels delivered by Fedex or UPS; the other on the north side, in Dundee, a tiny Quebec town of 420 residents, where Canadian customers come to collect their goods.

"Placed like this, between two customs offices, I'm pretty sure it's unique," says Patenaude, leaning on his walker as he gives an AFP reporter a tour.

Thanks to a 1842 treaty, his house is one of few in Canada and the United States to be split in two, and according to him, the only one being used as a courier package stopover.

The process is simple: packages arrive at the American door, and Patenaude walks them over to the other side of his house for pickup by Canadian customers who mosey over to a Canada Border Services Agency office next door for checks, and to pay any duties owed. This permits Canadians to avoid a mandatory 14-day quarantine imposed on all non-essential travelers since March 2020, as well as high international shipping rates for some US online purchases.

Many US businesses also don't ship abroad.

Business is booming. "Over the past year, I've had an additional 1,800 customers, almost three times more than usual," says the former mayor of Dundee. On average, 50 parcels a day are delivered through his house.

The small business, registered in the United States as Half Way House Freight Forwarding, is in the name of his three children, he says: two live in the United States, the third in Quebec.

Patenaude lives on the upper floors and comes down to help out five days a week. He's been living in this house since 1951.

Customers come mainly from Quebec and neighbouring Ontario province. A few come from further afield.

Richard Lachance drove an hour from his home west of Montreal to pick up American football boots ordered online for his son.

"I have a post office box in Plattsburgh (upstate New York) but with Covid we can't cross borders," he explains.

By using Patenaude's "halfway house" for parcels, he estimates that he saved about US$200 (Can$250) in shipping costs to Canada, which can sometimes be more expensive than the product itself.

Patenaude charges between Can$2 and Can$10 per parcel. It varies according to size, weight and sometimes "my mood," he says with a smile.