The first sign of a post-holiday hangover for the economy made its presence felt Friday, with the release of employment figures for Canada that proved less than festive.
Statistics Canada reported that employment increased by a meagre 2,300 in January, thus marking the second straight monthly rise and working to offset declines in November and October of 5,500 and 52,700, respectively.
However, January's increase was much smaller than the 22,000-job rise expected by forecasters. Thus, the unemployment rate inched up to 7.6% from 7.5% in December.
The nation’s number-crunchers drilled down for the detailed information, saying that gains in manufacturing, and primary industries were supplemented by hiring in retail/wholesale trade, education, information, culture and other services.
However, these gains were largely offset by declines in construction, finance, insurance and real estate, food and accommodation services and professional services. In all, there were 9,300 goods sector positions added. Manufacturers added another 10,100 to their workforce, marking the second consecutive month of gains for a total of 36,100.
Moreover, full-time positions were cut in January with a loss of 3,600 reported while part-time jobs increased by 5,900. In 2011, employers added 205,000 full-time workers to their payrolls with 15,000 part-time jobs lost.
A report from Canada’s biggest bank stated that "data has been running hot and cold with today's employment report showing little change in employment after declines in two of the previous three months. On net, the labour market generated 20,000 new jobs since September.
"Canada's labour market," RBC went on, "is showing signs of fatigue after very strong growth in 2010 and early 2011 although we expect hiring to ramp up again in the months ahead. The Bank of Canada is monitoring both domestic and external developments and today's report supports the case for accommodative policy to be maintained."
