The jobless rate in Canada surprised last month, but to the downside
Figures released this morning by Statistics Canada revealed that the economy lost 18,600 jobs nationwide in November, confounding the experts who foresaw an increase of 20,000.
The November decrease marked the third over the past four months after 199,000 jobs were created in the prior seven months. The labour force, which contracted by 13,800 in October, increased by 1,800, resulting in the unemployment rate rising to 7.4% from October’s 7.3%.
Regionally, Ontario recovered 17,000 of the 39,000 jobs it lost in October. That province’s unemployment rate eased to 7.9% from 8.1%. Most of the job losses were concentrated in Quebec, with 31,000 and Saskatchewan, 4,200. In Quebec, the majority of the drop came from the retail/wholesale industries.
A report from RBC Economics stated that "some of the sting from the headline drop was soothed by the fact that all jobs created in November were full-time. Full-time employment rose by 34,600 although this followed a whopping 71,700 positions cut in October.
"Part-time employment," the bank goes on to say, "fell by a hefty 53,500 in November likely reflecting the weakness in retail/wholesale in the month and suggesting that less workers (were) hired to handle the holiday season. Year-to-date, full-time employment increased by 233,000."
As to what today’s numbers hold for the immediate future, the country’s biggest bank sounds an upbeat note: "The changing of gears in terms of job creation may have contributed to the slowing in consumption in the third quarter, however, with the labour market still generating substantial net new jobs in 2011, we do not expect to see the pace of consumption to slow further although it is likely to continue at a slower pace than 2010's 3.3% gain."
