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Canada′s jobs growth smashes expectations

More than 44,000 jobs were added overall to Canada’s economy in October, following meagre hiring in the previous four months, and enough to push the unemployment rate slightly lower.

But that was enough to push the country’s total employment level above 18 million for the first time.

Some of the new jobs in October were temporary positions, helped by the Oct. 19 federal election, Statistics Canada said Friday. The employment gains the previous month amounted to just 12,000, adding to a string of only marginal net increases since May, when 58,900 more people found work.

The economy has been climbing slowly out of a temporary recession that began at the start of 2015, when the global collapse of oil prices hammering resources-dependent provinces, such as Alberta and Newfoundland. Since the first half of the year, however, growth has resumed — though only marginally — helped by two interest rate cuts, the first in January and the other in July.

Statistics Canada said employment grew by 44,400 last month, following a slight gain of around 12,000 in September and similar growth in August.

The jobless rate edged down to 7.0 per cent in October from 7.1 per cent the previous month, the federal data agency said. Most of the jobs added last month were in the private sector and all were full-time positions.

The services-producing sector — including transportation and warehousing, as well as healthcare and social assistance, public administration — accounted for many of the new jobs. Meanwhile, natural resources jobs declined, as did positions in construction and agriculture.

Given Canada’s expanding population, hitting the 18.02-million job mark was not unexpected. The growth in hiring tends to rise when the country’s economy edges up. In September, by comparison, total employment was 17.98 million.

Also anticipated, the Oct. 19 federal election provided a temporary lift to the monthly employment data — collected between Oct. 11 and 17 — as the overall number of public administration jobs increased by 32,000. The advance polls were open from Oct. 9 to 12.

“The increase was seen across all provinces and mostly in temporary work, coinciding with activities related to the recent federal election,” the federal agency noted.