(file photo/JPBG)

By Tyler Marr

FOR HIRE

Nation sheds over 24K jobs in July, more positive data regionally

Aug 9, 2019 | 11:52 AM

While July saw wage growth accelerate more than it has in a decade, the nation shed 24,200 jobs.

The drop of 11,600 full-time positions and 12,600 part-time roles pushed Canada’s unemployment rate to 5.7 per cent from 5.5.

Average hourly wages for all employees are up 4.5 per cent year-over-year, a bump from 3.8 per cent in June and 2.8 per cent in May. The jump is the highest in one month since January 2008.

On the job creation front, the nation staled after a string of gains in the last two monthly labour force surveys from Statistics Canada. But even giving back some recent additions, Canada’s employment remains up by 353,000 or 1.9 per cent year-over-year, fuelled by gains in full-time work.

Employment fell in Alberta, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, increased in Quebec and Prince Edward Island and was steady in the rest of the country. StatsCan said the number of private-sector employees fell in July, while self-employment rose.

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On wage growth — a measure closely watched by the Bank of Canada — BMO Chief Economist Douglas Porter wrote in a note to clients Friday that his institution doubts the central bank will read too much into the report.

“Still, the fact that employment is cooling notably after a powerful run, and the jobless rate looks to be edging up again, hands the Bank flexibility to respond if global trade risks mount further and we see more signs of domestic economic weakness,” he wrote.

In Saskatchewan, the workforce shrunk by nearly 2,200, coming through a loss of 10,900 full-time positions and a gain of 8,800 part-time roles. This pushed the provincial unemployment rate up to 5.4 per cent from 5.1. Year-over-year, employment is up by 12,000 jobs.

Locally, data for Prince Albert and Northern Saskatchewan, which includes numbers for our region, shows the unemployment rate is down significantly year-over-year to 6.9 per cent in July 2019 from 8.1 this time last year.

The region’s participation rate — which measures the number of people working or actively looking for work — has remained relatively stable at 67.7 per cent from 67.5 in July 2018. The size of the labour force has contracted from 107,700 to just 107,000.

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr