National Business

RICHMOND HILL, Ont. — DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. says auto sales growth continued in July but at a slower pace than recent months.

TORONTO — One of the Greater Toronto Area's most prominent landlords says it is keeping a close eye on spaces occupied by small businesses, whose owners it foresees being hardest hit by the high interest rate environment.

SOUTHWOLD, Ont. — Amazon Canada. says it will open a new robotics-backed fulfilment centre south of London, Ont. later this year. The e-commerce giant says the new fulfilment centre is expected to open in Southwold on Oct. 1.

TORONTO — Thomson Reuters Corp. says it earned a second-quarter profit of US$894 million as its revenue rose two per cent compared with a year ago. The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the profit amounted to US$1.

VANCOUVER — The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says last month's home prices rose from June amid strong sales figures and low levels of housing inventory. The board says the composite benchmark sat at just over $1.2 million in July, up 0.

Some 6.6 million "unsafe vehicles" are likely on the road despite having unresolved safety recalls, the federal government says. In an analysis from June, Transport Canada estimated that one in five of the 33.

TORONTO — A recent string of rejected tentative agreements across the country is a sign that workers are expecting more from their employers, and their unions, experts said.

REGINA — Saskatchewan's Crown corporations are reporting sizable earning losses this year, with the government-owned electrical utility facing its biggest financial hit yet.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fitch Ratings has downgraded the United States government's credit rating, citing rising debt at the federal, state, and local levels and a “steady deterioration in standards of governance” over the past two decades.

TORONTO — EQB Inc., the company that owns EQ Bank, says it earned $130.9 million in the second quarter, up from $58.8 million a year earlier. The Toronto-based firm says diluted earnings per share were $3.39, up from $1.