Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Canadian economy logs best job-creation month since recession

     Following months of stagnant or falling employment, Canada's economy just logged its biggest surge in jobs since before the last recession — adding 82,300 workers to the labour force in March 2012—or six times more than the previous seven months combined.  This unexpectedly strong employment report last week from Statistics Canada overturned a few prior months of modest employment reversals and was our biggest monthly jump since September 2008, just before the global recession.  The new jobs were broadly spread through multiple industries and even included modest gains in manufacturing and construction, two industries that have suffered recent set-backs.
     Bank of Montreal deputy chief economist Douglas Porter warned Canadians not to expect the same dramatic job gains going forward, noting that the unusually warm weather last month might have pushed forward some seasonal work.  The public sector's March gain of 21,000 workers also seems unusual, when both the federal and Ontario governments introduced budgets last week with spending restraints on the numbers or wages of public servants.  Yet Porter affirmed that the March employment gain "really does show that the job market has broken out of its funk."
     Still more good news:  the Bank of Canada’s quarterly survey of senior management from 100 representative firms, conducted over four weeks in February and March, found that business optimism in Canada is rising sharply, bringing better expectations for sales, hiring, and investment.
http://www.680news.com/business/article/349644--optimism-grows-among-canadian-firms-expectations-for-hiring-positive