MNI DATA PREVIEW: Canada Jobs to Hold Ground After Record Gain

By Greg Quinn

     OTTAWA (MNI) - Canada likely added even more jobs in May after a record

increase in April as the economy kept growing.

     Employment probably climbed by 5,000 last month according to the median in

an MNI survey of economists, following the April increase of 106,500 that was

the best ever in Statistics Canada records.

     Modest job growth should be enough to keep the unemployment rate at 5.7% or

to have a slight rise to 5.8%, according to economists. The jobless rate fell to

a record low of 5.6% in November and remained there again in December. 

     The job market has been one of the strongest parts of Canada's economy in

recent years. Recent reports also show growth picked up starting in March and

into the second quarter, suggesting steady demand for labor.

     Wages are one place the labor market figures are more in line with an

economy that has grown at an annualized pace of less than 0.5% in the fourth

quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of this year. The April jobs report showed

hourly wages of permanent employees climbed 2.6% from a year earlier, less than

the pace seen in past job booms. 

     The jobs data can influence the Bank of Canada. Policy makers have said

rising consumer incomes will aid households in paying off record debts. With

such strong gains in the past and unemployment so low, even a modest decline in

the May report wouldn't suggest the labor market is turning into a liability.

--MNI Ottawa Bureau; +1 613-314-9647; email: greg.quinn@marketnews.com

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