Canada: Private sector creating jobs at the fastest pace on records - NBF

The Canadian employment report showed that employment rose by 56K in February. According to National Bank of Canada analyst, Krishen Rangasamy, the “hot labour market” and higher oil prices will go some way towards reassuring investors and the Bank of Canada that not all is bleak.

Key Quotes:

“Those concerned about an imminent Canadian recession in the aftermath of last Friday’s disastrous Q4 GDP report, should be comforted by February’s Labour Force Survey. The latter extends the run to six consecutive months of job gains. Aside of the impressive headline employment gains, the fact that February’s job creation tilted towards the private sector and full-time positions is also very encouraging. Wage inflation is bouncing back, also a positive.”

“If you’re looking for a blemish in February’s report, look at the third consecutive decline in construction jobs, although the latter should not be all that surprising in light of a softening housing market ─ recall that housing starts took a dive in February.”

“Looking at the last six months, Canada has now created 300K private sector jobs (or 290K total jobs), the largest tally ever recorded for the private sector. Job gains have accelerated compared to the prior six months (i.e. March-August 2018) and were largely in services producing industries and full-time occupations.”