Canada: Despite gains, labour market recovery still has a long way to go – NFB

The Canadian economy created 62K jobs in November, more than the 20K expected. According to analysts at the National Bank of Canada, the report showed an impressive performance given public health restrictions put in place over the past few weeks and at the same time they warn that employment does not fully capture the current damages.

Key Quotes:

“The October report came in better than expected. It was an impressive performance given public health restrictions put in place over the past few weeks. Quebec and Ontario were able to generate decent gains in employment as layoffs in information, culture, recreation and accommodation/food services were more than compensated by gains elsewhere. That said, in the prairies, the rising number of COVID-19 cases has brought the recovery to an abrupt halt.”

“At the national level, we were pleased to see full-time jobs registering a 99K gain on the back of a 69K gain in October. Private sector employment continued to post gains despite current uncertainty, a necessary condition for a sustained recovery. As of November, employment is now just 3.0% below its February level with no less than 81% of jobs lost that have now been recovered.”

“Employment does not fully capture the current damages in the labour market. A significant portion of workers are underutilized as shown by hours worked still being down 5.0% compared to February’s peak. It is worth mentioning that a significant portion of employees are indirectly benefiting from the wage subsidy program offered by the federal government.·