October saw B.C. start to claw back labour losses from a month prior as the province added 8,300 jobs to the economy, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.
Virtually all the gains (8,000 jobs) were in part-time positions, while the province’s unemployment rate declined 0.2 percentage points to 5.8 per cent.
This comes after the province lost 18,000 jobs in September.
All the gains made in accommodation/food services (+9,200 jobs) were wiped away by losses in the construction industry (-9,200 jobs).
The only other category to experience notable gains was business, building and support services.
Canada’s unemployment rate remained static at 6.5 per cent as it added 14,500 jobs, which BMO chief economist Douglas Porter described as in line with an “underlying lacklustre economy.”
The Bank of Canada cut its overnight rate by 50 basis points last month in a bid to grease the wheels of the economy.
“This so-so [labour report] result doesn't really turn the dial on the Bank of Canada's cut-o-meter, with the market still leaning slightly to a follow-up 50 bp reduction in December,” Porter said in a note. “We would suggest that with the Canadian dollar on its heels, signs that the Canadian housing market is stirring again and the U.S. economy still chugging along, the Bank may well turn a bit more cautious on the rate-cut front.”
RBC senior economist Nathan Janzen said the latest labour data would suggest a rate cut of 50 basis points in December, while TD senior economist James Orlando said the new jobs report should encourage the Bank of Canada to cut its overnight rate by 25 basis points.
“Investors are uncertain which way the BoC will go, and given recent rhetoric from the central bank, it too doesn't [seem] to know which way it will go,” he said in a note.
Meanwhile, CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham said he’s leaning towards a cut of 50 basis points next month.
