Job growth in Canada was the slowest since 2009 last year and the labour-force participation rate is lower than originally reported, suggesting there is less steam in the country’s labour market than first thought.
Statistics Canada revised its labour-force survey numbers on Wednesday both for last year and, based on more recent population counts, for the 2001-2014 period. Employment gains last year were 121,000 – or a third lower than the originally estimated increase of 186,000.
The Bank of Canada, which cut its key lending rate last week amid falling oil prices, has cited several labour-market indicators, such as long-term unemployment, as evidence that the jobs market is showing signs of slack. It noted the dwindling participation rate as "another sign of ongoing labour-market challenges."
The revisions peg the jobless rate in December of last year at 6.7% rather than the 6.6% first reported, while the labour-force participation rate ebbed to 65.7% in the month – the lowest point since 2000 and even lower than first stated.
Total job growth in the past 14 years was 2.9 million rather than the 3.03 million pre-revision estimate, he noted, adding that a "big chunk" of the downward revision was during the recession and last year.
Most of last year’s jobs gains occurred in two months: September and October. All told, employment grew 0.7% last year, a similar pace to 2013 and below the rate of 1.8% in 2012.
