Biggest job gains in November were in health care and social assistance
(Reuters) — Canadian employers hired 15,200 workers in November, slightly below expectations as layoffs in the manufacturing sector almost offset gains in health care, trade and other services, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.6 per cent from 7.9 in October but that was largely due to a large number of youth dropping out of the job market, the agency said.
The data followed job gains of just 3,000 in October and the loss of 6,600 positions in September.
The biggest job gains in November were in health care and social assistance, one of the fastest-growing job sectors in the past year. Hiring was also strong in wholesale and retail trade, as well as in accommodation and food services.
Those gains were almost completely offset by a big drop in factory payrolls, and by losses in finance, insurance, real estate and leasing.
Details of the report pointed to an uneven labor market, with all the gains in part-time jobs and in services industries, which tend to be lower-paying jobs than in the goods-producing industries.
The average hourly wage of permanent employees, closely watched by the Bank of Canada for inflation pressures, slowed slightly to 2.2 per cent in November from a year earlier compared with a 2.3 per cent advance in October.
