Economy adds 35200 jobs in December

Canada’s labour market added 35,200 jobs in December, rebounding from a November that was the worst month for job losses in more than a decade.

The private sector added about 57,000 positions in the month, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, while the unemployment rate decreased to 5.6 per cent from 5.9 per cent. Ontario and Quebec saw the biggest monthly gains at the provincial level.

“This employment report will allow the Bank of Canada to breathe easier, as it finishes 2019 on a solid note, and undoes some of the outsized weakness seen in the prior two months,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at Bank of Montreal, in a client note.

December was something of a comeback for a labour market that had recently shown signs of fatigue. In November, around 71,000 jobs were lost, and the jobless rate jumped markedly higher. Other labour reports also suggested Canadian companies were pumping the brakes on hiring.

But with December’s rebound, 2019 wound up being one of Canada’s top years for job creation since the financial crisis. Roughly 320,000 more Canadians are now employed, compared with 12 months prior, for a gain of 1.7 per cent. Full-time work accounted for most of the year’s gain, with 283,000 positions added (1.9 per cent).

It was a standout year for Ontario, in particular. The province added 243,000 jobs during the year, amounting to a 3.3-per-cent increase, or the largest since 1987. Quebec was the next highest, with 63,000 jobs added in 2019.

There was a sharp divide between the goods and services sectors. The latter accounted for the entirety of 2019’s job increase, at 367,000 positions added. Meanwhile, the good-producing sector lost close to 50,000 jobs. About 40,000 of those were in manufacturing.

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