|
|
Canada's job numbers unexpectedly decline in March
Canada's job numbers unexpectedly decline in March
OTTAWA — There was an unexpected decline in Canadian employment numbers last month, even though full-time employment saw its biggest one-month gain in 1 1/2 years.
There were 1,500 fewer people working in March than the previous month, Statistics Canada said Friday. Economists had predicted a gain of 28,000.
Despite the lower job numbers, the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 per cent from 7.8 per cent as fewer people were looking for work.
There were 90,600 more people with full-time work last month, which was more than offset by the 92,100 people who lost part-time jobs. The full-time job gain was the most since the boost of more than 100,000 in September 2009.
Employment was down 27,200 in the public sector, up 8,300 in the private sector and 17,400 more people were self-employed in March.
Despite the overall loss of employment last month, experts were highlighting reasons to be encouraged.
"Canadian employment looked soft on the surface but felt firmer as you dug into the core figures," said CIBC World Markets chief economist Avery Shenfeld, noting the gains in full-time jobs and private-sector employment.
Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist for BMO Capital markets, said "The headline decline in jobs of 1,500 (was) completely masking a much stronger underlying story.
"While the drop in reported jobs was a bit of a shocker, no question, most of the details were considerably better," Porter said. "The real eye-popper in this report was the 90,600 surge in full-time jobs, which was countered by a slightly larger dip in part-time positions."
Porter also noted a "solid 0.5 per cent gain" in total hours worked in March.
March was the first month employment numbers fell in six months, and was only the third time it happened in 15 months.
Statistics Canada said, as of March, employment had grown by 305,000 people, or 1.8 per cent, from a year earlier.
"Slowly, Canadians are getting back to work, and the jobless rate is edging closer to full employment," Shenfeld said.
Some of the industries seeing employment declines in March included health care and social assistance, and public administration. Gains were seen in accommodation and food services, and construction.
Job numbers in most provinces were relatively flat besides the decline of 14,700 in Quebec and gain of 1,400 in Prince Edward Island. |
|
發表於 2011-4-8 08:26
|