Jobless rate dips to 6.6% in January as part-time work surges
02/06/2015 20:18
The Canadian economy created a greater-than-expected 35,400 jobs last month, fuelled by growth in part-time positions, the self employed and Alberta’s non-energy sector.
The country’s unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent in January from 6.7 per cent a month earlier, Statistics Canada said Friday.
The gains topped forecasts and show some resilience in the face of lower oil prices and weakening business investment. But some of the details were weaker, showing part-time work and self employment led last month’s gains while the country’s participation rate remains at its lowest level since 2000.
“Canada’s job numbers were good, but not quite as good as they looked at first glance, given a tilt to part-time and self employed positions,” noted Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets.
Still, “at least a signpost that November’s GDP drop, and December’s retreat in employment, were not harbingers of an outright economic decline.”
A raft of recent layoff announcements – including 17,600 workers at Target and 350 at Tim Hortons – have not yet shown up in the numbers.
Better-than-expected gains won’t likely “move the needle much in terms of Bank of Canada policy and we do look for a weaker job performance as we move ahead” as jobs tend to be a lagging indicator, said Mark Chandler, senior strategist for rates and currencies at Royal Bank of Canada.
By sector, natural resources employment fell by 8,800 positions last month amid plunging oil prices. The professional, scientific and technical sector added jobs.
Among provinces, Alberta continued to create jobs last month, in repair services and transportation – despite oil-sector losses – while employers also added to headcount in Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Employment fell in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan and Alberta have Canada’s lowest jobless rate, at 4.5 per cent. The highest is in Newfoundland, where it is 11.4 per cent.
In the past year, employers have created 127,600 jobs, with most of the growth in the second half, the agency said. Growth in self employment has outpaced paid work in the private and public sectors.
