“This February jobs report was far weaker than I had hoped, particularly after a slight bump up for manufacturing in January,” Scott Paul, Alliance for American Manufacturing’s President, said in a statement. “There are many factors swirling around—[artificial intelligence], bad weather, tariff volatility, and much more. With a potential energy shock on the horizon, there may be even worse news to come.”

On top of the losses in the plastics and rubber products and transportation equipment sectors, wood products lost 2,400 jobs, followed by 2,100 losses in the beverage, tobacco, leather, and allied products sector, and 1,000 jobs in textiles, primary metals, and food sectors. There were some gains, however, with the fabricated metal sector adding 2,100 employees; and the chemical, machinery and electrical equipment and appliance and component sectors adding around 1,000.

The losses represent a 15.6 percent increase to manufacturing unemployment levels with a total of 527,000 workers, compared to 456,000 year over year. With additional tariff and war uncertainty, employment levels too could remain uncertain. S&P Global U.S. manufacturing PMI report indicated that U.S. manufacturers were restraining hiring.

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Canada intends on competing with companies like Starlink when it comes to a made-in-Canada low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network that will launch by next year to expand internet services across the nation, supporting improved access for Canadians as well as military operations and natural disaster response.

In December, a new strategic partnership was signed between the federal government and Canadian firms Telesat and MDA Space to develop military satellite communications for the Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic, the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project—Polar (ESCP-P) project, a $5 billion project that is expected to come online in 2037 as part of Canada’s multi-billion-dollar NORAD modernization project.

One project, Telesat Lightspeed, will be composed of nearly 200 LEO satellites, which was made possible by a $2.14 billion federal loan in 2024 that aided the expansion of internet and 5G connectivity across Canada, particularly in underserved areas like remote and Indigenous communities.

The LEO satellites operate at a 1,300-kilometre altitude, above operators like Starlink, which dominates the 600-kilometre altitude. By operating higher, Telesat avoids any “traffic jams” in the sky.

The project has brought together what the Prime Minister called “like-minded partners who possess similar capabilities to build out a deep and resilient system we can all share and control in our territories,” removing reliance on companies like Starlink to fill the gaps in service.

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According to a survey of 101 senior figures across the UK commissioned by MyWorkwear, 63 percent, or nearly two-thirds of female manufacturing leaders, face discrimination, with women still worried about their personal security and harassment. Further, 35 percent of respondents identified specific areas where their safety felt compromised in the workplace including physical safety, personal security when working alone, and challenges associated with ill-fitting personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as limited protections against bullying and harassment.

Alternately, 72 percent of women felt that both sexes now receive equal pay, though Gayle Parker, Commercial Director at MyWorkwear, noted, “Workplace equality isn’t just about pay. It’s about safety, inclusion and ensuring women feel safe when they go, attend and come back from work. The results are clearly telling us that this is not the case, and industry needs to take action to turn this worrying trend around.

“We want to encourage the next generation of female engineers and leaders to believe they can achieve anything, and this must start with ensuring the workplace is safe, inclusive and that staff are fitted out with the right clothing. It’s the basic things that can make such a huge productivity difference.

“Ill-fitting PPE and workwear might seem minor, but it sends a wider message about whether women are fully considered in workplace planning,” explained Parker. “As a workwear provider, we are engaged in regular conversations with thousands of manufacturing firms about the need for a wide range of women’s workwear options. Our data shows that nearly three quarters of women (72 percent) have been expected to wear men’s fit or unisex fit items in the workplace at some point in their career.”

The report did show that companies were trying to do their part to overcome these challenges, with 87 percent of respondents now offered women’s fit clothing as standard and 78 percent commenting on how wide the range is.

For further information or to access the full survey, please visit: https://www.myworkwear.co.uk/the-myworkwear-workplace-equality-report.

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