Jobless rate the lowest in Canada
Province adds 10,000 jobs to boost economy
Canada’s economy showed surprising bounce last month, churning out 59,300 jobs, including 10,000 in Alberta, dropping the national unemployment rate two-tenths of a point to 7.2 per cent.
Alberta’s impressive job gains pushed down the province’s unemployment rate to 4.2 per cent — lowest in the country — from 4.5 per cent in October, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency said Friday that employment in Alberta was up 10,100 positions from a month earlier.
Employment has risen by 1.8 per cent or 38,900 positions in Alberta since November 2011.
Calgary’s unemployment rate remained unchanged from October at 4.7 per cent, even though the region created 5,200 new jobs, bringing the annual increase to 23,000 new positions.
“After a few months of subdued growth, Alberta’s labour market kicked back into high gear in November,” said Todd Hirsch, senior economist with ATB Financial. However, virtually all of those new jobs were part-time positions, he said.
“Alberta’s j ob market showed more strength on the service side of the economy in November than on the goods-producing side.
“Indeed, some of the goodsproducing sectors that had been showing the strongest growth this year — construction, oil and gas, and manufacturing — all shed positions in November.”
Overall, Friday’s report from Statistics Canada was among the strongest of the year, not only in terms of job creation, but also in the type of jobs — outside Alberta almost all the gains were in full-time employment and in the private sector. Only March’s outsized 82,000 jobs increase bested November’s numbers.
“The bottom line is the Canadian economy is not quite as weak as some of the recent indicators had suggested. It’s very encouraging,” said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist with the Bank of Montreal.
“While one jobs report doesn’t change the bigger picture, it does show there is still some underlying resiliency in the domestic economy.”
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty noted the jobless rate equals the lowest level since the 2008-09 recession, a level also met in June. “As I say, this augers well for jobs, growth and prosperity in Canada,” he told the Commons. The strongest Alberta job gains last month were in food and accommodation (7,400), health care and social assistance (6,500) and transportation and warehousing (6,100), said ATB’s Hirsch.
“After a wave of weaker than expected economic releases in Canada, this robust report is a major breath of fresh air for the economy,” said Porter.
Canada’s dollar moved up smartly on the news, gaining a quarter of a cent against the U.S. dollar to about 101.14 cents US shortly after the announcement. The currency was also helped by a simultaneous U.S. jobs report, which saw a 146,000 employment pickup in November, and the unemployment rate fall to 7.7 per cent, the lowest in almost four years. The U.S. report was not as positive as it first appeared, because the Labour Department also revised downward the previous two months by 49,000 jobs. Still, economists were encouraged that in both countries, the labour market is showing signs of resisting the considerable headwinds from Europe, and confidencesapping political squabbling in Washington over budget issues. CIBC World Markets chief economist Avery Shenfeld called the Canadian situation a “splash of good news that has been in short supply in recent months.” However, Dina Ignjatovic, an economist with TD Economics, said the Canadian job market will face several headwinds in the future.
“The public sector is dealing with spending constraints which is likely to limit hiring prospects, while the private sector will continue to be faced with a slower growing economy,” she explained. “Add to that, that persistent uncertainty surrounding global economic growth and the ability of policy-makers in the U.S. to address their fiscal challenges, and businesses will not likely be rushing to ramp up their workforce.”