4 September 2009

Canada gains 27,100 jobs in August

The following is excerpted from today's edition of "cbc.ca".

Canada's economy showed signs of coming out of recession in August, creating a surprisingly strong 27,100 jobs during a month when economists were still expecting losses.

Not all the news was good, however, as all of the jobs and then some were in the part-time category and the unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a point to 8.7 as more Canadians began looking for work.

August also saw a continued deterioration of full-time work, with the additional 3,500 job losses bringing the total since last October to 486,000.

And the 3.3 per cent rise in hourly wages during the month from last year was the lowest in more than two years....

Still, the gains in part-time work, all in the private sector, and the noticeable slowing in the hemorrhaging of full-time employees in the past several months will be seen as welcome signs for the economy going forward.

Another positive was that employment in the private sector rose 49,000, the first increase in this group since last September.

Statistics Canada noted that while Canada has lost 387,000 jobs since last October, only 31,000 of those have come in the last five months.

The result also beat consensus expectations of a 15,000 job loss in month.

The better labour conditions were noticeable across a number of industries, including construction, financial services, retail and wholesale trade, as well as real estate and leasing.

Losses came in business, building and other support services, education services and the battered manufacturing sector, which shed another 17,300 workers....

Students continued to experience the worst of summer job markets, .. with the average jobless rate hitting 19.2 per cent, the second highest since 1977.

Regionally, Saskatchewan was the only province to experience a sizable deterioration in the job market, losing 3,200 jobs. But the province still boasts Canada's lowest unemployment rate at five per cent.