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OTTAWA - Continuing job losses that pushed the unemployment rate to an 11-year high of 8.4 per cent in May are masking a new truth about Canada`s labour market, say economists: it`s not nearly as bad as it seems.
Experts point out that the net job loss of 41,800 positions last month was almost entirely a result of turmoil in Ontario`s auto sector.
"The most intriguing feature of this report," said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, "is its extreme laserlike focus on one sector and one province.
"Outside of the jobs lost in Ontario manufacturing, employment was effectively stable in the rest of the country in most sectors and provinces."
As a result, eight out of 10 provinces actually posted job gains in May, Statistics Canada reported.
Subtract the Ontario numbers and a different picture emerges: the rest of the Canadian economy actually created 30,000 jobs in April and another 18,000 jobs in May, said Yanick Desnoyers, assistant chief economist at National Bank Financial.
While the manufacturing sector continued to post losses - 58,000 in all, largely concentrated in Ontario - the much larger service sector, which accounts for 78 per cent of all employment in Canada, has added 61,000 jobs in the past three months, Desnoyers said.
Given the signs of economic recovery now taking hold, he added, "the Canadian labour market is about to turn the corner."
Read the full article here.
Experts point out that the net job loss of 41,800 positions last month was almost entirely a result of turmoil in Ontario`s auto sector.
"The most intriguing feature of this report," said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, "is its extreme laserlike focus on one sector and one province.
"Outside of the jobs lost in Ontario manufacturing, employment was effectively stable in the rest of the country in most sectors and provinces."
As a result, eight out of 10 provinces actually posted job gains in May, Statistics Canada reported.
Subtract the Ontario numbers and a different picture emerges: the rest of the Canadian economy actually created 30,000 jobs in April and another 18,000 jobs in May, said Yanick Desnoyers, assistant chief economist at National Bank Financial.
While the manufacturing sector continued to post losses - 58,000 in all, largely concentrated in Ontario - the much larger service sector, which accounts for 78 per cent of all employment in Canada, has added 61,000 jobs in the past three months, Desnoyers said.
Given the signs of economic recovery now taking hold, he added, "the Canadian labour market is about to turn the corner."
Read the full article here.