Don't shed 'too many tears' over jobless rate? Seriously?
Should we not cry as much over jobless rate?
At last count, almost 1.45 million Canadians were unemployed. And I`ll bet not one of them can find a
silver lining in the fact that they can`t find work. And I`ll bet they are shedding many, many tears.
I was troubled Friday when I read a research note by one of Canada`s leading economists, pointing ahead to this week`s jobs report and suggesting that we `don`t cry too many tears` if it takes `a bit longer` for the jobless rate to drop markedly from its uncomfortably high level of 7.8 per cent. To be fair, he was being provocative, and in no way was suggesting he wants to see unemployment remain elevated.
Here`s what Avery Shenfeld of CIBC World Markets wrote:
`Canada`s job figures will be out this coming Friday, and in one interesting twist, there would be reason to not be too disappointed if the unemployment rate fails to fall from its current 7.8-per-cent perch. Of course, we all want the country to see strong economic growth that puts more Canadians to work. But the recent stickiness of the jobless rate, despite what looks to have been an impressive 4-per-cent pace to economic growth in the first quarter, carries a silver lining.`
Read the full article
here.