Statistics
Canada announced on Friday that the number of employed people increased by 76,000
m-o-m in January 2025 (or +0.4 per cent m-o-m)
after an upwardly revised jump of 179,100 m-o-m (from +90,900) in December 2024.
Economists had foreseen
a gain of 25,000 m-o-m.
Meanwhile,
Canada's unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent in January from an unrevised
6.7 per cent in the previous
month, below economists’ estimate of 6.8 per cent. This represented
the lowest reading in three months.
According to
the report, full-time employment rose by 35,200 (or +0.2 per cent m-o-m) in January, while part-time jobs soared by
40,900 (or +1.1 per cent m-o-m).
Over the month,
the number of public sector employees decreased
by 8,400 (or -0.2 per cent m-o-m), while the number of private sector employees
climbed by 57,200 (or +0.4 per cent m-o-m).
At the same time, the number of self-employed surged by 27,400 (or +1.0 per cent m-o-m).
Sector-wise, employment advanced
in both goods-producing (+53,600, or +1.3 per cent m-o-m) and
services-producing (+22,500, or +0.1 per cent m-o-m) industries.
The average hourly wages increased by 3.7
per cent y-o-y (or +CAD1.31) to CAD36.83 in January, slightly
easing from an upwardly revised 3.8 per cent y-o-y gain (from 3.7 per cent) in December.