OTTAWA – Statistics Canada is scheduled to say this morning how the labour market fared in October, one month after the country passed a jobs milestone.
September’s labour force survey revealed that the country had recovered all of the three million jobs lost at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
The gain of 157,000 jobs in September pushed the unemployment rate to 6.9 per cent, down from 7.1 per cent in August.
Economists expect to see another uptick in job numbers for October, although at a slower rate than September.
Royal Bank economists Nathan Janzen and Claire Fan expect a gain of around 50,000 jobs in the month, which would push the unemployment rate down a tad further.
The pair point to an uptick in consumer spending last month in high-contact service industries as reason to believe today’s jobs report should show larger gains in those sectors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2021.
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