Canada’s economy lost 30,600 jobs in July, according to data from Statistics Canada on Friday. This marks the second consecutive month of employment losses for the country.
The data came in weaker than expected. The median estimate among economists tracked by Bloomberg was for a gain of 15,000 jobs last month and an unemployment rate of 5.0 per cent.
The country’s unemployment rate remained steady at a historic low of 4.9 per cent.
The wholesale and retail trade, health care and social assistance, and educational services sectors collectively saw a loss of 53,000 jobs. The losses were partially offset by the goods-producing sector which gained 23,000 jobs, the labour force survey revealed.
The decline in jobs was roughly the same in both part-time and full-time work, though employment fell the most among women aged 55 and over.
The overall participation rate fell 0.2 per cent to 64.7 per cent in July, compared to the 0.4 percentage point drop in June.
The average hourly wages of employees rose 5.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis, matching the pace set in June.
“This is a notoriously noisy survey, especially in the summer months, July and August. The numbers bounce around a lot. I think what’s important here is that the North American economies are slowing,” Philip Cross, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a former chief economic analyst of Statistics Canada, said in an interview Friday morning.
He also cautioned that Canada’s housing sector is vulnerable to the rising interest rate environment and could lag behind the U.S.
“There are some pockets of resilience in the economy. The resource sector is one,” Cross said.
The Bank of Canada has attempted to rein in runway inflation with aggressive interest rate hikes. Friday’s jobs data will likely help inform the central bank’s next scheduled interest rate decision in September.
“While today’s figures muddied the waters further for policymakers, the Bank of Canada will likely focus on the historic low unemployment rate and still strong wage growth to justify another non-standard rate hike at its next meeting,” Andrew Grantham, a senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
The Bank of Canada remains committed to reaching its target rate of two per cent inflation.
“Evidence that the economy is slowing due to weakening demand, rather than supply constraints, will bring a pause in this rate hike cycle following the next hike,” Grantham said.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
