General

January brings 43,000 new jobs

Canadian jobless rate falls to 8.3 per cent

The Canadian economy exceeded expectations in January, marking the fourth employment gain in six months and creating 43,000 jobs. The private sector saw the most growth, gaining 53,700 positions, while 13,400 were added in the public sector and self-employment fell by 24,000 jobs. The gains were driven by retail and wholesale trade, business, building and other support services, and were primarily made up of women aged 25-54 and by youth, who are seeing employment rates increase for the first time since the fall of 2008. However, almost all the new jobs are part-time, and there are still 280,000 fewer jobs in the country then there were in October 2008. Regardless, economists say recovery is on the right track, although the job market is expected to remain volatile. “The Canadian economic recovery picked up considerable speed in the first month of the year,” said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist for the Toronto Dominion Bank, who also warned that the rapid growth could be “overstating” the recovery.

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