Last year, 2010, proved to be the second-best in terms of Canadian employment gains since the Great Recession.
Canada’s economy added 35,200 net new jobs in December, Statistics Canada said. That brought the total number of jobs created in 2019 to 320,300, the second-most since 2007. The unemployment rate ticked down in December to 5.6% from 5.9% in November.
The private sector reversed course with nearly 57,000 job increases, offsetting a decline of a similar size in November, while public-sector employment dropped by 21,500. Provincially, employment gains in December were led by Ontario and Quebec. For the year, employment increased for both young men and women, and for men ages 25-54, and 55 and older.
Service producing jobs rose 367,000, versus a decline of 47,000 in the good-producing industries.
December’s report was crucial for policy makers in assessing the health of Canada’s job market and should back the central bank’s view that the labour force continues to be strong despite trade issues pulling down exports and halting business investment. The latest job report sent the Canadian dollar up 0.2% to $1.3036 against its U.S. counterpart in trading last Friday.
