Canada – Private sector loosing jobs

Canada may have added 1,800 jobs in October, but that number hides the fact that almost all the gains came from government and that the private sector lost more than 20,000 jobs.

The 1,800 jobs added was already a disappointment compared with the 10,000 economists had forecast. According to Statistics Canada, that left the unemployment rate unchanged at 7.4%.

The six-month average for jobs gains is now 29,400, according to Reuters. But it’s a very different story when you look at the private sector and public sector separately.

“Details of the report were much worse than the headline number with the private sector showing a loss of 21,000 in October, the fourth decline in six months,” said Matthieu Arseneau, senior economist with the National Bank of Canada. “Over the period, the private sector is actually showing a loss of 12,000 jobs, compared to a surge of 76,000 jobs in the public sector.”

That’s a worrying trend, because government spending cuts are on the horizon, said David Madani, Canada economist at Capital Economics.

“The 36,900 jobs added in the public sector [in October], which lifted the three-month average monthly gain to 14,500, was somewhat surprising given the consolidation well underway across provincial and federal government. We expect these gains to be reversed in the coming months,” he said…

Choosen excerpts by JMM from

via Canada job numbers hide the fact that private sector bleeding jobs | Economy | News | Financial Post.