Canadian economy adds 952,900 jobs, exceeding previous forecasts

In June, Canada’s economy added 952,900 new jobs amid massive rehiring as the restrictions were eased.

According to Statistics Canada, the increase, following creation of 290,000 jobs in May, reduced Canada’s unemployment rate from 13.7% to 12.3%. Meanwhile, economists predicted a 700,000 gain and an unemployment rate of 12.1%.

Such results could weaken worries about the duration of economic damage from the pandemic lockdowns.

“It’s certainly a strong performance, with good breadth across segments and regions,” – noted Brett House, deputy chief economist at Bank of Nova Scotia. “Almost all of the increases were reported in payroll jobs and in the private sector, so these are high quality numbers.”

The largest gain was seen in services-related sectors, which accounted for 794,400 of the growth, with retailers and food businesses leading the way.

However, the national economy is still trying to climb out of a deep hole. The total two-month employment increase, at 1.24 million remains 41% lower than the loss of 3 million jobs seen in March and April. May showed the highest unemployment rate in almost a century.

The recent results are caused by the gradual reopening in Ontario and Quebec. Canada’s two most-populous provinces accounted for two thirds of June increases. Ontario, which was the only province not showing gains in May, added 378,000 new jobs this time.

There was also an improvement in hours worked, as they were up by 9.8%, though still 16% lower than in February.

The number of Canadians who had their working hours significantly cut went down by 823,000 last month. As a result, the number fell from 5.5 million in April to 3.1 million in June.

“Although we predict more reasons for recovery over the next months, we believe the pace will slow down and we’ll have quite a bumpy ride along the way,” – says Royce Mendes, an economist at CIBC World Markets.

Unemployment rate and job stability are the top factors supporting the health of real estate market. If you don’t have a job you won’t be able to pay your mortgage even at the rate of zero percent.