Canadian employment change provided a negative surprise in January; as 5700 workers dropped out of the labour market. This is compared with a surge of 22,000 new jobs in December. The Canadian labour market had been steadily adding new workers, with November and January representing the only two months of decline in nine months of employment market growth. The positive trend is set to continue in line with better than expected growth for 2015. The Bank of Canada decided to keep the key interest rate steady at 0.5% yesterday citing an improvement in economic conditions despite low energy prices.
Trading event
Canadian Employment Change
Today 1330 GMT
Investor Notes:
- Employment in Canada is set to grow by 10,200 jobs in September compared with a fall of almost 6000 jobs in the previous month.
- The unemployment rate is set to remain steady at 7.2% for February.
- The labour participation rate for February is projected to remain at 65.9%.
- GDP grew by 0.2% in December after growing 0.3% for November representing two months of expansion after two previous months of contraction.
