MNI 5 THINGS: Canada Sept Jobs Up On Part-Time;Unemp Rste Down>

--5 Things We Learned From Canadian Labor Force Survey Data

By Courtney Tower

     OTTAWA (MNI) - The following are the key points from the September 

data on the Canadian Labor Force Survey released Friday by Statistics 

Canada: 

     - The Canadian economy gained back 63,300 jobs in September, 

erasing the 51,600 loss recorded in August, but mostly driven by an 

increase in part-time employment. Part-time work rose by 80,200 while 

full-time employment fell by 16,900 jobs, reversing the full time-part 

time performances of the previous month. The unemployment rate declined  

0.1 percentage point to 5.9% on the month. Analysts in a MNI survey had 

expected employment to rise by 16,700 in September and the unemployment 

rate to edge down to 5.9%. The participation rate edged upward to 65.4% 

from 65.3%. 

     - Full-time  employment now is up 224,000 jobs on the year, while 

part-time work year-on-year is flat (-1,600). For the third quarter, 

there was a gain of 66,000 jobs versus +23,200 for the second quarter. 

Of these, there was a decline of 4,500 full-time jobs in the third 

quarter, dropping from +6,900 in the second quarter. Part-time work, on 

the other hand, was up 70,200 jobs in the third quarter, from +16,300 in 

the second quarter. A positive factor for the third quarter was that 

private sector employment was up 70,300 jobs versus +21,800 in the 

second quarter. In September, employment rose by 95,800 among private 

sector employees. Meanwhile, the number of public sector employees was 

little changed. 

     - The picture for average hourly wages per permanent worker shows a 

continuing slowing down of the rate of growth. It was +2.2% in September 

versus 2.6% in August, the lowest  rate of growth since September of 

2017. It was the fourth monthly slowdown. The Bank of Canada would like 

to see wage growth closer to 3.0% in an economy operating close to 

capacity, as this one is. Hours worked, on a year-over-year basis, rose 

just 0.7% in September (+1.6% in August), the smallest increase since 

February 2017. Hours worked actually dropped 0.4% month over month. 

     - Employees in the core aged group (25 to 54) drove the  September 

gains. Jobs were up by 34,300 for men and by 20,000 for women. The total 

unemployment rate for the core aged group fell by 0.2 percentage points 

to 5.1% for men and 5.0% for women. Year-over-year, employment for men 

was up by 80,000 or 1.3%, the report said, and for women employment was 

up 80,000 or 1.3%. Employment "held steady for the other demographic 

groups." 

     - The goods sector lost 22,000 jobs in the third quarter, against a 

gain of 1,700 in the second quarter. Services, on the other hand, gained 

87,700 jobs in the third quarter and 21,600 in the second. In September, 

employment was up 44,900 in goods sectors and 18,400 in services. There 

were substantial gains in construction (+28,000) finance, insurance, 

real estate and leasing (+13,100) in public administration (+12,100) and 

in agriculture (+9,300). There were decreases for information, culture 

and recreation (-17,200), and for business, building and other support 

services (-10,200). Among the provinces, the main gainers were Ontario 

with an increase of 36,100 jobs, the third increase in four months, and 

British Columbia (+33,300). 

--MNI Ottawa Bureau; email: yali.ndiaye@marketnews.com 

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