Canada’s Economy Adds 35,000 Jobs in March, Exceeding Expectations and Boosting Private Sector Employment

The Canadian economy outperformed forecasts in March, adding 35,000 jobs, which was three times more than economists had anticipated. This is a good sign that might show that the Canadian economy is doing better than some people had thought. Despite the increase in hiring, the unemployment rate in the nation stayed at 5% because more people actively sought jobs, which raised the labour force participation rate. It is important to note that the private sector saw the majority of job growth, while the public sector and self-employment experienced relatively little change.

The service industry was the main driver of job growth, with substantial hiring booms in the transportation and warehousing, construction, and other support services, as well as the financial, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing sectors. The month saw job losses in the construction, natural resources, and “other services” sectors.

Jobs were added in all four provinces, with Ontario adding the most (21,000), followed by Alberta (14,000), Manitoba (3,300), and Prince Edward Island (1,300). (1,700). On the other hand, the other provinces saw little change while Saskatchewan lost 4,300 jobs. Canadian workers made an average hourly income of $33.12 in March, a 5.3% rise from the previous year.

This number is still higher than Canada’s inflation rate of 5.2%, despite being somewhat lower than February’s annual pace of 5.4%. This marks the first time since late 2021, when inflation rates began to soar, that pay growth has outperformed the official inflation rate for two consecutive months.

An economist at financial services giant Desjardins, Royce Mendes, claims that the strong employment report indicates that the economic momentum observed in January and February persisted into March. Contrary to popular belief, the Bank of Canada, which has been striving to rein in runaway inflation by stifling economic development, may not be in favour of a robust job market and growing salaries. Despite this, economists do not think that Thursday’s employment figures will be sufficient to persuade the central bank to depart from its original plan to temporarily halt rate increases.

The robust labour market and growing salaries are thus unquestionably good news for Canadian workers in March, even though they may be poor news for the Bank of Canada.

Prabhnoor Kaur