Canadian job growth made a hard U-turn in January.
B.C. lost 5,100 jobs in the first month of the year while the country saw 88,800 jobs disappear during that same period, according to data released February 9 from Statistics Canada.
The province was able to make gains in full-time employment, adding 4,100 jobs.
But those were more than offset by the 9,200 jobs lost following the holiday season.
That trend was reflected nationally, with Canada adding 49,000 full-time jobs compared with the 137,000 part-time jobs that were lost that month.
“You win some, you lose some. After a record-breaking string of gains, Canada's job market was due for a pullback. This is a big number on the surface, but so were the gains over the previous several months,” TD senior economist James Marple wrote in a note to investors.
“All told, this does not change the story for the Canadian economy much. The unemployment rate is still low with the economy remaining close to full employment.”
B.C.’s unemployment rate ticked upward 0.2 percent points to 4.8%, while the national rate climbed 0.1 percentage points to 5.9%.
“The rate is still down almost a percent from a year ago and more than that if sources of ‘hidden’ unemployment like discouraged workers are included,” RBC senior economist Nathan Janzen wrote in a note to investors.
“Broadly speaking, we don’t expect the 36k average monthly employment gain last year to be repeated, and today’s report does not change our view that labour markets will nonetheless continue to tighten.”
