Jobless rate falls for fifth month in a row
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Canada’s labour market continued to heal in October as retail businesses ramped up hiring back to pre-pandemic levels.
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The economy added 31,200 jobs last month, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa, versus expectations for a gain of 41,600, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.7 per cent from 6.9 per cent in September. Total hours worked was up 1 per cent last month.
The report signals the economic rebound is intact and shows companies are finding workers as pandemic restrictions vanish. Yet, the data also illustrate how future job gains will return to more normal levels as labour slack diminishes, constrained by growth in labour supply.
The labour force actually shrank in October by 25,000, according to the report.
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The bulk of the gains last month were in the pandemic-exposed retail sector, which posted net gains of 72,000.
Elsewhere, gains stalled. Employment in goods producing industries was down by 6,200.
Public administration also recorded a decline, after jumping in September due to federal elections that necessitated temporary hiring of poll workers.
All the gains in September were in full-time employment.
Canada’s labour market has been on tear since emerging from a third wave of COVID earlier this year, generating 600,000 new net jobs since May that has brought employment to beyond pre-pandemic levels.
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