MNI 5 THINGS: Public Sector Jobs Boost Canada July Employment>

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

By Yali N'Diaye

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

on the Canadian Labor Force Survey released Friday by Statistics Canada: 

     - The economy added 54,100 jobs in July, more than the 19,000 gain 

expected by analysts in a MNI survey, and marking the largest increase 

since last December. However, the picture was not as rosy as the 

headline number suggested despite the unemployment rate decrease to 5.8% 

from 6.0%, with the participation rate edging down to 65.4% from 65.5% 

in June. 

     - The first caveat was the split between full-time and part-time, 

as the latter drove up the headline number with an 82,000 increase on 

the month, the largest since August 2017. Full-time employment, which 

tends to reflect a stronger business confidence, actually declined 

28,000, more than erasing the previous month's gain. Year-to-date 

full-time employment is still up 56,900, but sharply down from the 

237,400 surge over the same period last year, while part-time employment 

is similar (-19,900 YTD 2018 versus -19,000 YTD  2017). 

     - In addition, most of July's gain owed to a 49,600 increase in the 

public sector, while private sector jobs, more reflective of the 

strength of the economy, were up 5,200 over the month. 

     - On a sector basis, gains were led by services, where employment 

surged a record 90,500. Hiring was widespread, led by educational 

services (+36,500), health care and social services (+30,700), and 

information, culture and recreation (+12,100). Goods-producing 

industries shed 36,500 jobs, the largest decrease since May 2009. In 

particular, manufacturing was down 18,400 and construction down 12,300. 

     - On the wage front, growth slowed down, with average hourly wages 

for permanent workers up 3.0% year-over-year after increasing 3.5% the 

previous month, the smallest gain since December 2017. The readings fell 

more in line with the Bank of Canada's other measures of wage growth. 

The central bank's wage-common, in which input from the Labor Force 

Survey has the smallest weight, showed wage growth was 2.3% in the first 

quarter. 

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

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