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CANADIAN JOB MARKET HAS BITE IN APRIL
• The Canadian economy created 109,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate edged down to 8.1% as more people entered the labour force.
• Job gains were all concentrated in the service sector, while employment in the goods producing sector remained weak.
The recovery in Canada’s labour market moved up a gear, with a 109,000 new job created in April. This is the largest monthly job gain in percent terms in 16 years. On a three month moving average, job creation has accelerated to 50,000 positions, more than double the pace seen in the last 9 months of the recovery. And, the gains were split evenly between full-time and part-time employment, underscoring the health of Canada’s job market. More importantly, the Canadian economy has now recouped almost 70% of the jobs lost over the recession. The unemployment rate edged down a modest 0.1 percentage points to 8.1%, as more people entered the labour force in the month.
Almost all of the positive job creation was in the service sector, where 70% of the gains were concentrated in three industries – business building and other support services, information, culture and recreation, and other services – all of which are bouncing back from employment losses of a similar magnitude in the previous month. Trade was also a major contributor with an increase of 32,000 jobs. Outside of these areas, employment growth across the service sector was relatively modest.
Within the goods producing sector, employment in the construction industry continued at a healthy pace with 24,000 new jobs in April. Since July of 2009, the construction industry has contributed a net 90,000 jobs to the employment recovery. Excluding construction, employment in the goods producing sector remains weak. In particular, manufacturing lost a further 20,000 jobs in April, and the industry has yet to record any improvement in employment since the labour market recovery began in July.
CANADIAN LABOUR FORCE SURVEY |
|
Apr-10
(000’s) |
Mar-10
(000’s) |
m/m
% chg* |
y/y
% chg* |
Employment |
108.7 |
17.9 |
0.6 |
1.3 |
Full-time
Part-time |
43.8
64.8 |
-14.2
32.2 |
0.3
2.0 |
1.1
2.4 |
Goods-producing
Manufacturing
Construction
Services-producing
Trade
Fin., Ins., & Real Estate
Public Sector
Private Sector^ |
2.1
-20.6
24.4
106.6
31.6
10.5
-1.8
108.5 |
39.8
3.9
21.0
-21.9
13.7
-7.4
-20.6
42.4 |
0.1
-1.2
2.0
0.8
1.2
1.0
-0.1
1.0 |
-0.4
-4.9
7.3
1.8
2.6
3.2
2.4
1.2 |
Unemployment Rate (%)**
Participation Rate (%) ** |
8.1
67.2 |
8.2
67.0 |
-0.1
0.2 |
0.0
-0.2 |
*Reflect changes in seas. adjusted data; ^includes self-employed
** level expressed as a per cent, % chg expressed as percentage
movement in the rate. Source: Statistics Canada / Haver Analytics. |
Despite the industry disparity, the employment gains were spread across Canada, with every province experiencing positive job creation. Still, Alberta (+10,000), Ontario (+40,000), and Quebec (+35,000) accounted for a significant proportion of the strength in the month.
April’s employment report was very strong, and helps to highlight the strength of Canada’s economy. Going forward, employment in private services is expected to continue to trot along at a decent clip, supported by firm domestic demand throughout 2010. Meanwhile, manufacturing employment remains a puzzle. Manufacturing activity has been booming since September of 2009 and supporting much of the Canadian economic recovery, yet employment has been slow to pick up. Nonetheless, the strong rebound in manufacturing production suggests that meaningful job gains for the industry are just around the corner and the goods producing sector will likely contribute disproportionately to employment growth going forward. On the flipside, hiring in both construction and the public sector is likely to cool reflecting a slowing housing market and government fiscal restraint. As such, we anticipate that employment growth will continue, at a more modest but healthy pace of 20,000-25,000 jobs in the coming months.
Diana Petramala, Economist
416-982-6420
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