Total employment in the Canadian economy was little
changed in February following a strong January that saw growth of 29,000 jobs.
Total employment was up 0.5 per cent compared with February of 2013 and the
Canadian unemployment rate remained at 7 per cent.
After a positive start to the year, BC gave back
January's job gains and then some. Total employment fell by 10,400 jobs in
February. The losses were evenly split between full-time and part-time employment. The provincial unemployment rate was
unchanged at 6.4 per cent.
In the United States, payrolls grew by 175,000 jobs,
while December and January job gains were revised higher by a combined 25,000
jobs. The US unemployment rate moved up a tick to 6.7 per cent. Over the past three months, job growth has
averaged 130,000 in the United States. While not robust, that pace of job
growth is probably not enough to dissuade the Fed to slow or pause its tapering
of bond purchases. As the Fed continues to pull back, we anticipate modestly
higher long-term interest rates in both the US and Canada.
Copyright BCREA – reprinted with permission
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