After several months of modest job gains, Canada lost a surprising 30,000 jobs in July, raising concerns about a stalling recovery.
“It’s definitely a disappointment,” said Douglas Porter, BMO’s deputy chief economist, of the 30,000 losses. “It was quite broadly based, and it didn’t seem to be due to any statistical glitches. It was spread across a number of industries. It hit five different provinces, fortunately not Ontario.”
Still the Statistics Canada jobs report had a few bright spots, including the addition of more full-time jobs, higher wages and an increase to total hours worked.
Porter cautions about reading too much into a one-month period, noting that even in the strongest years, there can be one or two months of decline in jobs.
“What I find a bit more troubling is we have only seen very modest job growth over the last 12 months and the unemployment rate has not improved at all from a year ago.
“To me, that’s a little bit more telling than any one month-to-month move,” Porter said, adding he is concerned that August numbers might show a decline too.
The national unemployment rate rose by one-tenth of a point to 7.3 per cent in July.
Ontario, which added 20,000 jobs in June, saw little change in July. The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points, as more people searched for work.
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“It’s definitely a disappointment,” said Douglas Porter, BMO’s deputy chief economist, of the 30,000 losses. “It was quite broadly based, and it didn’t seem to be due to any statistical glitches. It was spread across a number of industries. It hit five different provinces, fortunately not Ontario.”
Still the Statistics Canada jobs report had a few bright spots, including the addition of more full-time jobs, higher wages and an increase to total hours worked.
Porter cautions about reading too much into a one-month period, noting that even in the strongest years, there can be one or two months of decline in jobs.
“What I find a bit more troubling is we have only seen very modest job growth over the last 12 months and the unemployment rate has not improved at all from a year ago.
“To me, that’s a little bit more telling than any one month-to-month move,” Porter said, adding he is concerned that August numbers might show a decline too.
The national unemployment rate rose by one-tenth of a point to 7.3 per cent in July.
Ontario, which added 20,000 jobs in June, saw little change in July. The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points, as more people searched for work.
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Canada
