More signs the economy is chugging along here in Canada. Figures released this morning by Statistics Canada, revealed that employment increased again in September with 52,100 jobs created. This followed largely offsetting movements in July and August that on balance yielded a mere 4,000-unit rise in the level of employment. In September, the labour force increased by 72,600 resulting in an rise in the unemployment rate to 7.4%.
On an industry basis, a surge in service sector hiring in August was followed up by another gain of 17,600 while the goods-producing industries largely recovered August's 36,400 decline by rising 34,500. Having said that, hiring in the goods sector has significantly lagged in recent months and is down 36,000 from May's recent peak.
Construction employment recovered some of August's 44,000 decline and rose by 29,000 in September. Utilities employment also picked up in September although manufacturers cut another 6,200 from their payrolls, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Despite these consecutive drops, manufacturing employment is up 87,000 from its November 2011 low.
In the services sector, it was a mixed bag, with gains in retail and wholesale trade, information and cultural industries and to a lesser extend, public administration, finance and professional services. Declines were recorded in business services, education and transportation and warehousing. The decline in educational services comes after five months of solid increases.
The split between full-time and part-time jobs favoured full-time this month, which rose by 44,100 with part-time gains limited to just 8,000. This continued the trend of the previous 12 months with 156,800 full time and 17,700 part-time jobs created. Average hourly wages for permanent workers were up 3.3% in September compared to a year earlier, slower than August's 3.7% and July's 3.9% pace. The number of hours worked recovered and increased 0.4%, more than reversing the 0.3% dip recorded in August.
On a regional basis, Ontario increased employment by 31,000 more than recovering the whopping 25,000 jobs cut in August. Manitoba also saw jobs created. Conversely, Saskatchewan reduced employment by 3,600 and the unemployment rate rose to 4.7% from 4.4%. Alberta's unemployment stayed at 4.4%, the lowest in the country.
Related Stories
