Canadian Employment

Canadian employment was unchanged in July, though the underlying details betray some weakness in the labour market. Full-time employment declined by almost 60,000 jobs and total hours worked, which is closely associated with economic growth, was unchanged.  However, the national unemployment rate ticked 0.1 points lower to 7.0 per cent as the number of people actively seeking work declined.

The BC economy shed 5,300 hundred jobs in July, though all in part-time work. Part-time employment declined 13,700 in July, offsetting a gain of 8,400 jobs in full-time employment. The provincial unemployment rate fell 0.1 points to 6.1 per cent as the drop in people looking for work outpaced job losses in the month. The level of employment in BC is up just 0.5 per cent year-to-date in 2014.

Copyright BCREA – reprinted with permission