New Job Opportunities In Canada Exceed Expectations

New Job Opportunities In Canada Exceed Expectations

December saw a remarkable increase in job opportunities in Canada even as the economy has brought the unemployment to its lowest level in four years.

The month saw 39,800 full-time, private sector job opportunities in Canada, which is nearly eight times what was expected. The past five months saw job opportunities increase in the country as the unemployment rate went down from 7.2 percent to 7.1 percent.

A Royal Bank of Canada report indicated that expectations were limited to only 5,000 jobs created for the month. On the other hand, the unemployment rate was expected to go up to 7.3 percent.

Analysts were puzzled at the strength of the job market in Canada, which is supposedly not sustainable due to the slowdown in growth. Derek Jolt of the Scotiabank revealed that it was bewildering why employers are creating new job opportunities in an environment where economic growth is minimal.

Although more job opportunities have come, working hours have not grown that much. Working hours increased by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, according to BMO Capital Markets deputy chief economist Douglas Porter. The rate is consistent with his call for a 1.2 percent economic growth in the period, which is lower than the 2.5 percent forecast of the Bank of Canada.

Even as the central bank prepared to back off from its uncertain stance amid slow growth and lower-than-expected inflation, more job opportunities may show an anticipation of a possible rate increase in the future Porter indicated. But he is not expecting a rate hike until 2014.

December saw 41,200 full-time job opportunities even as 1,400 part-time jobs were eliminated. Most of the job opportunities were created in the private sector even as the number of self-employed individuals went down by around 22,000.

Posted by James Fried on Sunday January 06 2013, 5:45 AM EST. Ref: WSJ. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0