Canadian employment remains unchanged in April, jobless rate stays at 5.8 pct

Canadian employment remained effectively unchanged in the month of April, dropping 1.1k net positions. With just a modest rise in the number of people looking for work, the jobless rate continued to be the same at 5.8 percent.

Beneath the weak headline figures was a more encouraging split. Full-time employment rose 28.8k net positions as part-time employment fell 30k. Private sector employment led the way. Private employment was up 28.0k net positions, while the public sector shed 13.6k net positions. With a 14.5k net gain in employees, it was self-employment that brought the overall number into negative territory, down 15.6k in April.

Trade and construction led the way lower, while professional services and accommodation and food services saw gains on the month. The remaining categories were generally close to, but below zero net change on the month.

Province wise, Quebec saw the most number of falls in employment. Modest gains were seen in Ontario, but it was not sufficient to counter the fall as the other provinces turned in mixed performances. In spite of the shifting towards full-time employment, aggregate hours worked were little changed again in April, leaving the year-on-year rate at 1.9 percent, well below the first quarter’s 2.7 percent average rate. It was a more positive story on wages, as the hourly rate for permanent employees rose 3.3 percent in its best performance since 2012.

“We expect employment gains to continue trending around the 15k to 25k pace as the year progresses. Tightness may be slowing the net job gains, but it is also keeping wage growth up”, stated TD Economics in a research report.

The data released today might probably be put in the hawkish column, but with many internal and external uncertainties unlikely to be resolved before their next rate decision, the balance stays skewed in favor of a July rate hike, added TD Economics.

At 16:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Canadian Dollar was slightly bullish at 51.0199, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was bearish at -95.8274. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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