7 February 2014

This employment growth (actually, the biggest since last August) exceeded a forecast of economists polled by Reuters. They predicted 20,000 new positions and the unemployment rate falling only to 7.1%.

January results differed from U.S. numbers greatly, where job creation has been slowing down during the previous two months. Nevertheless, U.S. nonfarm payrolls were up by 113,000 in January, so the jobless rate fell by 0.1% to 6.6%.

“Such numbers are quite optimistic, but the job results should be viewed over time,” – Finance Minister Jim Flaherty noted.

“The trend we see is really good, as we plan the budget and expect modest but steady job growth.”