By Gordon Isfeld
OTTAWA (MaceNews) – The Canadian economy continued to churn out jobs in May, adding 27,700 positions, but that was at a weaker pace than the previous month, as the number of people looking for work declined.
The jobless rate declined 0.3 percentage points to 5.4 per cent in May as fewer people were looking for work, Statistics Canada said Friday. The latest unemployment level is the lowest reading since 1976.
Compared with the same month in 2018, May employment rose by 453,000 positions – or 2.4 per cent – with full-time jobs accounting for 299,000 of new hiring and 154,000 being part-time workers.
Meanwhile, the number of self-employed Canadians increased by 62,000 positions in May.
Overall, most economists had been expecting job growth of just 5,000 workers during that month – especially after a 106,500-plus hiring jump in April.
“While a few aspects dulled the strong headline figures in the May report, the Canadian labour market is still performing admirably,” BMO Capital Markets said in an analysis.
“A multi-decade low on the jobless rate and firmer wage growth should dull some of the BoC rate-cut chatter, as should better momentum in areas like trade and housing (at least in Toronto) so far during the spring data run.”
Earlier this week, Statistics Canada reported the country’s trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed in April, meanwhile, to $966 million – thanks to stronger export activity – marking the smallest shortfall since October 2018.
As well, the March trade deficit was revised to $2.3 billion from the previous reading of $3.2 billion, the federal agency reported Thursday. “The drop in oil prices late last year was a big factor, but the deficit is still quite wide despite the rebound in prices,” said BMO Capital Markets, following the release of the trade data.
“We look for oil exports to rise a bit further in April which should help the headline. Imports are expected to pull back modestly, as chunky increases in consumer goods and special transactions retrace. All told, we’re looking for the trade deficit to narrow to $2.5 billion,” BMO added.
“Despite the anticipated improvement, the gap remains relatively wide, reflecting global trade uncertainty and a relatively weak Canadian competitive backdrop.”