MNI DATA IMPACT: Canada Jobless Rate Inches Up From Record Low>

By Greg Quinn

     Ottawa (MNI) - Canada's jobless rate inched up from a record low in 

June as more people looked for work, while wages rose at the fastest 

pace in a year. 

     The unemployment rate rose to 5.5% in June from May's record low of 

5.4%, and the number of jobs fell by 2,200, Statistics Canada said 

Friday from Ottawa. The MNI median was for 5.5% unemployment and a gain 

of 5,000 jobs. The big driver of the rise in the jobless rate was a 

30,500 increase in the labor force.

     The job decline gives back just a sliver of the 134,200 jobs that 

were created in the prior two months, and other parts of the report 

suggests the economy remains near full employment. Full time jobs rose 

by 24,100 in June and part-time jobs fell by 26,200. 

     Perhaps more importantly to the Bank of Canada, the job market 

showed some overdue signs of wage inflation. Average hourly wages of 

permenent employees rose 3.6% in June from a year earlier, the fastest 

pace since May 2018.

     Gains in the job market round out a picture of an economy where the 

annualized pace of growth likely advanced by more than 2% in the 

second quarter after stalling out in the previous two periods. 

Faster-than-expected GDP growth, exports and inflation are likely to 

keep the Bank of Canada from signaling a need to cut interest rates at 

its decision on July 10. 

     The goods sector declined by 32,800 jobs, while services 

climbed by 30,600 positions. Manufacturing employment fell for the first 

time in a year with a 15,000 decline, though the losses were outside of 

the province of Ontario where there has been some weakness in automobile 

assembly this year.  

     The number of hours worked rose 1.8% in June from a year earlier. 

     The job decline was the first since March.

  --MNI Ottawa Bureau; tel: +1 613-314-9647; email: 

greg.quinn@marketnews.com 

     [TOPICS: M$C$$$,MACDS$]