Details of the January Canadian jobs report
- Prior was +46.1K
- Unemployment rate 6.8% vs 6.8% expected
- Prior unemployment rate was 6.8%
- Participation rate 65.9% vs 65.8% expected
- Prior participation rate 65.8%
- Full time change +15.8K vs +70.9K prior
- Part time change +32.4K vs -24.7K prior
This is the second consecutive super-strong Canadian jobs report. The strong market seems to be pulling in workers with participation up to 65.9% from 65.6% two months ago.
At first blush, this is super strong. The past five months have been the strongest such stretch in 9 years.
Looking into the details, almost all the jobs were created in the categories of 'finance, insurance, real estate and leasing' and 'business, building and other support services'. Those a high-wage categories so that's a positive, not a negative.
The problem in Canada, much like elsewhere, is that wage growth is slow. Year-over-year growth in January was just +1.0% compared to 1.5% in Dec and Nov. In fact, the wage growth number might be the lowest on record.