Job creation tepid in lacklustre economy
Canadian employers have boosted payrolls in seven of eight months this year, but cracks are starting to show in the country`s job creation.
The economy churned out 35,800 jobs last month, but the gains stemmed from a seasonal rebound in the hiring of teachers. Without the bump in education, the economy would have shed about 32,000 positions as the key private sector cut jobs for the second month in a row.
The jobless rate, meanwhile, ticked up to 8.1 per cent from 8 per cent as more job-seekers entered the work force.
The lacklustre employment picture in August followed employment losses in July, showing hiring has slowed sharply after an average monthly increase of 51,000 jobs in the first six months of the year. And fading government stimulus, a cooling
housing market
, tapped-out consumers and public sector cost-cutting suggest future hiring will remain muted, with the jobless rate likely to stick around the 8-per-cent mark, economists said.
"It`s going to be a tough slog from a job creation perspective over the next three to six months," said Derek Burleton, deputy chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank. "It all fits into our view that despite the nice rebound in output and employment in the early stages of the recovery, it`s going to be a very slow improvement in economic conditions."
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