The following is excerpted from today’s article by The Globe and Mail.
The Canadian economy churned out 95,000 jobs last month, the second-biggest monthly gain on record, mostly in full-time positions in the private sector.
The jump in job creation is the largest since August, 2002, and sent the country's jobless rate down a notch to 7.1 per cent in May, Statistics Canada said Friday. The increase was eight times what economists had expected.
… construction accounted for nearly half the job gains, with the retail, trade and business support services sectors also adding to head count…
Jobs numbers have been volatile in recent months and one month does not make a trend. A smoothed-out average over the last half year shows gains of 19,000 a month, "indicative of a job creation engine chugging along, as opposed to revving up, noted Sonya Gulati, senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank…
Private companies led the way. The private sector added 94,600 positions while the public sector created 6,600 jobs. Self employment fell by 6,200. The construction sector added 42,700 jobs, the biggest gain on record.
Wage gains, though still modest, are running above the rate of inflation, with average hourly wages growing 2.3 per cent in May from last year…
By province, employment rose in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, New Brunswick and Manitoba. A gain of 50,600 jobs in Ontario sent the province's unemployment rate to 7.3 per cent, the lowest rate since November, 2008.
Unemployment rates fell in every province from Manitoba east, while they rose in the Western provinces. Saskatchewan has the lowest jobless rate in the country, at 4.5 per cent…
This article is available in its entirety at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/canadas-jobs-picture/article12407984/. (subscription may be required)