INSTANT VIEW-Canada adds 31,200 jobs, unemployment rate dips to 6.7%
TORONTO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The Canadian economy added a net 31,200 jobs in October and the jobless rate slipped to 6.7% from 6.9% in September, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted a gain of 50,000 jobs in October and for the unemployment rate to slip to 6.8%.
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Market reaction: CAD/
Link: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/211105/dq211105a-eng.htm
COMMENTARY
ANDREW GRANTHAM, SENIOR ECONOMIST AT CIBC CAPITAL MARKETS
"Overall, broadly in line with the consensus forecast and a little better than we had expected. Labour market progress will remain slower than we had become accustomed to, but today's data for hours worked shows that slack continues to be absorbed even outside of the headline employment/unemployment figures."
JIMMY JEAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT DESJARDINS GROUP
"At face value, it is pretty much in line with the consensus. However, when you look into some of the details it's interesting to see that you have nearly 70,000 jobs added in the private sector and you have a little bit of an offset coming from self-employment."
"That's certainly a constructive sign ... 70,000 is a remarkably strong number in a context where we've already recovered our pre-pandemic losses."
"What's a bit more on the negative side is that accommodation and food with the second consecutive (monthly) decline in employment and this is a sector which we normally think of as seeing the most acute labor shortage issues."
For the Bank of Canada, the jobs data is "still coherent with the idea that the market continues to heal."
DOUG PORTER, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT BMO CAPITAL MARKETS
"It's a reasonable report..may have come up a little shy of expectations, but it's still pretty reasonable."
"I don't think this significantly changes the timing of expected rate hikes by the bank. I certainly don't think it accelerates the proceedings, but I doubt it's... disappointing enough to really... delay them either."
"The one thing... that did catch my eye...is that the participation rate actually dipped a bit. That'll certainly be something worth keeping an eye on. We were making a big deal last month that the participation rate had gotten all the way back to pre-pandemic levels, which is not happening in the U.S. by the way. So the fact that faded a little bit is something worth keeping an eye on." (Reporting by Fergal Smith, Steve Scherer Editing by Denny Thomas)
