WATCH: (Apr. 4, 2014) Nearly 43,000 Canadians found work last month – double what economists predicted. The headline sounds great, but there are variations in who’s getting hired and where. Shirlee Engel explains.
Canada’s economy showed signs of thawing out from a long, bitter winter last month, churning out an unexpectedly high 42,900 net new jobs that helped shave the unemployment rate to 6.9 per cent – matching a post-recession low.
The Canadian jobs gain, although mostly part-time, was about double what economists had anticipated and more than wipes out February’s 7,000 dip.
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As well, at 6.9 per cent, the jobless rate matches the lowest point it’s been since the 2008-09 recession. The employment increase did not budge the participation rate from 66.2 per cent, however, as more Canadians began looking for work in March.
The other surprise in the Statistics Canada report was that the vast majority of the new jobs last month – 32,500 – went to young Canadians, the 15-24 age group that has mostly been left behind during the recovery.
Statistics Canada said over the past 12 months, employment in Canada has risen by about 190,000 and the number of hours worked by 1.1 per cent.
If there was a soft spot in the Statistics Canada report, besides the preponderance of part-time work, it was that almost all the new jobs were in the public sector, while new private sector hiring was limited to 3,900. New part-time jobs outnumbered full-time 30,100 to 12,800.
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