Canada gains 15,300 jobs in April, jobless rate edges down to 5.2%

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A construction worker passes a condominium site with a roll of cable in Toronto, Ontario, Canada October 8, 2021. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's economy gained a net 15,300 jobs in April, entirely in part-time work, Statistics Canada said on Friday. The jobless rate edged down to 5.2%, a new record low.

Employment in the goods producing sector fell by a net 16,000 jobs, mostly in construction. The services sector grew by a net 31,4600 positions, mostly in public administration, as well as professional, scientific and technical services. Market reaction:

Market reaction: CAD/

STORY:

Link:https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220506/dq220506a-eng.htm?HPA=1

COMMENTARY

JIMMY JEAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT DESJARDINS GROUP

"Negative surprise here... Looking at some of the breakdowns, you see the services side feel pretty solid here, 31,000 jobs added. But that weakness comes from the goods producing sectors. I haven't seen much of the narratives yet. It's consistent with the idea that the services sector is the one that really recovering heavily right now. Whereas in goods, we're continuing to see problems with respect to supply chain issues, and also the slowdown in the housing market, which may be related, although I haven't seen the details of it yet. I think the biggest surprise for me is wage growth... We expect wages to accelerate not decelerate right now, so it's a bit of a mystery what's going on with this. We still have a very tight unemployment rate - 5.2% unemployment - so you know, still moving lower, but wages not quite reacting as expected."

"Given the accumulation of evidence we've had on the job market, be it the jobs turnover, the high job vacancies, and all those conditions of tightness... Despite that disappointment, the case is still very solid (for the central bank) towards continuing to move forcefully. So that means super size rate hikes. Obviously, in the last couple of weeks, they've specified that this would probably mean moving at 50-basis-point increments."