Canada Jobless Rate Rose for Third Month in December to 7.5%

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Canada Jobless Rate Rose for Third Month in December to 7.5%

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s unemployment rate rose for a third month in December, the longest advance in two years, as a gain in jobs trailed growth of the labor force.

The jobless rate increased to 7.5 percent from November’s 7.4 percent and the recent low of 7.1 percent in September, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Employment rose by 17,500, the first gain in three months. Over the past six months, the number of jobs has grown by 7,400, compared with a gain of 191,800 in the first half of 2011.

The labor market may stay stalled in 2012 with unemployment averaging 7.4 percent, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists taken last month. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said job creation will be a top priority this year while Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said weak growth abroad and Europe’s fiscal crisis are the main risks to the country’s economy.

“Job growth has cooled,” said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist with BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, by telephone. “I wouldn’t at all be surprised if we are averaging 10,000 jobs a month, which won’t cut into the unemployment rate at all” over the next six months, he said.

Bonds rose after the report, with the yield on the two-year benchmark Canadian government bond falling 2 basis points to 0.94 percent at 8:02 a.m. in Toronto. The three-month overnight index swap rate, which measures what investors expect the central bank’s key policy rate will average over that period, fell one basis point to 0.97 percent

Dollar Weakens


The Canadian dollar depreciated 0.2 percent to C$1.0217 per U.S. dollar. One Canadian dollar buys 97.88 U.S. cents.

Full-time jobs fell by 25,500 in December while part-time employment rose by 43,100, Statistics Canada said today. Self- employed workers increased by 31,100, while workers classified as employees fell by 13,600.

Private-sector employment increased by 3,800 and public- sector jobs fell by 17,300.

Employment in the federal government may be curbed by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s pledge to eliminate a budget deficit by the fiscal year starting April 2015, in part by cutting annual government operating expenses by at least C$4 billion ($3.9 billion).

Some companies are also seeking to trim labor costs. Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, and Rio Tinto Group locked out workers at plants in Canada last weekend after labor talks broke down.

Manufacturing employment rose by 30,400 in December, followed by a 16,100 gain for professional, scientific and technical service workers, Statistics Canada said.

Finance Jobs Decline

Employment in finance, insurance real estate and leasing fell by 14,500 and construction jobs decreased by 12,800. In the second half of 2011, finance industry employment fell by 49,300 and construction employment was up by 4,800.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast an overall December job gain of 20,000 and a 7.4 percent jobless rate. The 17,500 gain in employment was smaller than the 23,600 monthly increase in the labor force.

Canada added 199,200 jobs last year, following a 2010 advance of 298,100 and a 2009 decline of 198,300. The unemployment rate of 7.5 percent for December compares with 7.6 percent at the end of 2010 and 8.5 percent at the end of 2009.

Average hourly earnings of permanent employees rose 2.4 percent in December from a year earlier. The Bank of Canada says that figure is a key indicator of inflation.

The U.S. reports December non-farm payrolls at 8:30 a.m. New York time. Economists forecast payrolls rose by 155,000 and the unemployment rate rose to 8.7 percent from 8.6 percent. Canada’s jobless rate has been below that of the U.S. since October 2008.

“We are quite exposed” to global weakness, said Mark Chandler, head of fixed income strategy at Royal Bank of Canada’s capital markets unit in Toronto, adding people shouldn’t expect an “extraordinary return in terms of jobs.”

Canada Jobless Rate Rose for Third Month in December to 7.5% - Businessweek
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
192
63
Nakusp, BC
7.5%? That is completely misleading. The number of people out of work is a whole lot higher than that. Probably closer to 25 - 30%. 7.5 only represents those on EI.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,778
454
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'Mediocre' economy adds 17,500 jobs, but ranks of unemployed reach 1.4 million

Statistics Canada said 17,500 jobs were created in December, slightly below expectations, with every province except Quebec registering gains.

The good news ended there, however, as all the gains were part-time and among the self-employed.

Employers actually shed 13,600 workers in December and full-time jobs fell even further, by 25,500.

Most troubling was that the unemployment rate rose for the third consecutive month to 7.5 per cent, the highest level since April, as an increase in Canadians seeking work pushed the official jobless toll above 1.4 million.

"We've staunched the bleeding in terms of ending outright job losses, but if you step back and look at the three- or six-month trend, this is still a soft labour market in Canada," said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist with CIBC World Markets.

"The problem is we need stronger economic growth to generate the need to hire ... the economy can be described as mediocre."

'Mediocre' economy adds 17,500 jobs, but ranks of unemployed reach 1.4 million | CanadianBusiness.com



.. bu-bu-bu Flaherty is the economic hero of our time!
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
23,738
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50 acres in Kootenays BC
the-brights.net

Kakato

Time Out
Jun 10, 2009
4,929
21
38
Alberta/N.W.T./Sask/B.C
I can believe this,I'm trying to finalize an EI claim I had from a year ago and you can not get them on the phone and logging on the service Canada site is allmost impossible.
For 3 days I have been trying and they are swamped.
 

relic

Council Member
Nov 29, 2009
1,408
3
38
Nova Scotia
Kakato,I know a half dozen people in the same boat,they had to make the eightyish klick {ret}to the office.Fishers on PEI {according to CBC] can expect to wait three months because of staff cutbacks.
YET some arsehole in ottawa spends three hundred dollars of my{ok, our}money getting his office blessed. GEEBUS !!!
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
21
38
kelowna bc
Not everyone who wants a job has one, the problem our country faces is that we
have not kept up with proper training. Training programs were cut over the years
as governments called the expenses, instead of investments in the future.
There are all kinds of jobs and not enough trained people to take them across the
country. In addition there are parts of the country where the jobless rate rose to
quickly in changing times and people don't react immediately either. Then there
are the people who are looking for work, that ran out of EI and they no longer
qualify for benefits. If they don't show up on the rolls they are considered to be
working and that is also misleading.
This country is going to get a huge adjustment shortly and it won't be pretty. All
the talk about how Harper saved us is about to be put to the test. It should also be
remembered. if a government takes credit for something wonderful and it goes
sour they must also take the blame, none of this oh, its a world wide recession thing.
Taking credit ahead of the curve can backfire and this is a case where that may soon
happen to Harper.
 

Ariadne

Council Member
Aug 7, 2006
2,432
8
38
I think that people that are out of work have to accept whatever contracts they can get when they come up. So many people hold off, choosing to wait for that full time contract, but I have found that by accepting a series of shorter term contracts it's quite possible to manage. I don't get rich, but my lawn guy is still employed. Furthermore, being hired for the full time position usually takes a few weeks with initial and second interviews, decision times and so on. Most organizations are willing to accept that the "start time" has to accommodate everyone so there's no real advantage to turning down short term contracts while waiting for long term fulltime positions.

As for EI, I did that for the first time a couple of years ago and it seems to me that there was a very short window for filng the paperwork, which is done with one walk-in visit to the appropriate office (with all the correct paperwork). After that, everything could be done online. I never waited to talk to anyone on the phone. I found it to be a very smooth process. Because I worked when I could, while on EI, I was encouraged to apply to have the 50 weeks extended ... but didn't bother. How does it work filing an EI claim from a year ago?