Canada added jobs in April: StatsCan

Last Updated: Friday, May 8, 2009 | 7:36 AM ET Comments148Recommend39

CBC News

The unemployment rate held steady in April at eight per cent as overall employment grew by a surprising 35,900 jobs, Statistics Canada said Friday.

Economists had been projecting overall employment to drop by about 50,000 last month.

The Canadian dollar saw a big jump in the wake of the jobs report. The loonie was trading up more than a cent, topping 86 cents US.

The rise in the number of people working was the result of an increase in self-employment, the federal government agency said. Self-employment rose by 37,000 in April, while there was little in public- and private-sector employment.

Statistics Canada said about 39,400 full-time jobs were added last month, while about 3,600 part-time jobs were lost. That is a reversal from past months, when full-time jobs were lost while there was some growth in part-time work.

The information, culture and recreation sector added 17,000 jobs, while 15,000 jobs were added in the building and business support services sector. The agriculture sector added about 9,000 jobs. Employment in the construction and manufacturing sectors remained flat.

Most growth in Quebec, B.C.

Statistics Canada said that all the employment growth in April occurred in Quebec, where 22,000 jobs were added, and in British Columbia, which added 17,000 jobs. Employment declined in Nova Scotia by 4,100, and by 2,800 in Newfoundland and Labrador. The other provinces saw little change.

Despite the increase in employment last month, overall employment has fallen by 321,000 since the peak in October 2008.

BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter suggested people not read too much into April's report.

"While quite encouraging, it’s important to recall that head fakes are always possible — employment managed to rise in five separate months in 1991, in the middle of a lengthy, deep recession," Porter said. "And some of the rise may reflect a bounce from the extreme drop at the start of the year.

"Still, this marks a huge improvement from the wicked job losses seen over the winter, and is yet another strong signal that the economy may be approaching bottom certainly sooner than most forecasters believed possible just a few short weeks ago," he added.

Stimulus sufficient to turn economy around later this year: Bank of Canada

1 day ago

OTTAWA — Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he does not envision that the struggling economy will require additional monetary stimulus.

The central bank governor says he believes the economy will begin to grow again late this year, after four quarters of decline that began at the end of last year. Carney says that as things stand today, he believes there is enough stimulus from governments and the bank to provide the boost the economy needs.

He sees the elements of recovery forming, including a gradual improvement in the world economy, the housing markets in the U.S. and Canada, the depreciation of the Canadian dollar and Canada's sound financial system.

But he admits that the economic recovery will be muted, growing only by 2.5 per cent in 2010 after falling back a full three per cent this year.

While he says he is optimistic, he underplayed talk of encouraging green shoots appearing on the economic terrain as premature.

It is too soon to be totally reassured, he says.

And Carney says he is prudently planning for worse.

Carney says in case of a financial system shock, he has prepared plans to intervene by expanding the money supply or purchasing corporate assets - so-called quantitative and credit easing.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.