Canada Posts Biggest Job Gain in 10-Years on Construction

The Canadian economy economy added the most jobs in more than a decade in May led by full-time employment ranging from construction to retailing, suggesting resilience in domestic demand while foreign trade remains weak.

Employment rose by 95,000 in May, the most since August 2002, and the jobless rate fell to 7.1 percent from 7.2 percent even as more Canadians joined the workforce, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The job gain tripled the highest of 25 forecasts in a Bloomberg economist survey that predicted no change in the unemployment rate.

Payrolls have kept rising even with modest output growth in the world’s 11th largest economy, restrained by what the central bank calls the weakest export recovery since World War II. Unemployment will remain at or above 7 percent for another year according to a separate Bloomberg survey.

Construction accounted for almost half the gains in May, rising by 42,700. The retail and wholesale category rose 27,200, followed by the “other services” category at 21,500 and business and building services at 21,300.

Full-time employment rose by 76,700 in May while part-time work advanced by 18,200, Statistics Canada said. Private companies added 94,600 workers and public-sector employment rose by 6,600. More than 80,000 people joined the labor force in May, pushing the participation rate to 66.7 percent from 66.5 percent.

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, had its jobless rate decline to the lowest since November 2008, falling to 7.3 percent on a 50,600 job gain.

Workers designated by Statistics Canada as employees rose by 101,200 while the self-employed decreased by 6,200.

Bloomberg

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