Despite gains, canada's job market under strain#t/a,/a, a^d fta,. (,fu S--E(mdffi A ?_( 6

RACHELLE YOUNGLAIECONOMICS REPORTER

ECOIYOMY

Canada's labour market bouncedback in AugUst with z6,ooo newjobs, thanks to a surge in publicsector hiring and new positionsin Quebec. But, despite thegains, the conrrtry's jobs marketcontinued to $how signs ofstrair1-

The rebopnd follows a month

when the economy shoulderedhuge losses in full-time employ-ment and the August rebodnd-\.vas not enough to offset thedeclines.' "The Canadian job market issimply stuck in a rut," DouglasPorter, chief economist with'Bank of Montreal, said in a note.

The unemployment rate roseto 7 per cent from 6.9 per centin fuly, as more people searched

for work, according to StatisticsCanada's monthly labour forcesurvey released on Friday.

- lf, qh" rz months to August,full-time work declined bJr35,7oo positions and part-timework increased by rr3,roo spots.

Weak oil prices and wildfires inAlberta have contributed to Can-ada's sluggish economy and tep-id job creation.Iobs, Page 3

Iobs: 'The energy industry downturn continues to be a large headwind'

IOBS DATA\\ The country's economylf shrankr.6 per cent in thesecond quarter, its worst per-formance since the Great Reces-sion.

"The energy industry downturncontinues to be a large headwindto Canadian employment, esPe-cially in industries providinghigher-wage blue-collar jobs likethe resource sector, manufactur-ing, and transportation and ware-housing," Bill Adams, economistwith PNC Financial ServicesGroup, said in a note.

Over the year, the naturalresources sector is down by rr,roopositions. Manufacturing, trans-portation and warehousing sec-tors are also offby about z,ooospots.

Resource-depeqdent Albertahas accounted for most of theslowdown. The oil-producingprovince was the country'sgrowth engine for years untilcrude prices started to Plunge inmid-zor4. Last month, Albertagained z,7oo jobs and the unem-ployment rate eased to 8.4 Percent. But over the year, the Pr'ov-ince has shed g,4oo jobs. Thelosses are across the private sec-tor, from natural resources toaccommodation and food serv-ices.

"That certainly played a hugerole in why the Canadian jobmarket has all but stagnated inthe last couple of years," Mr' Por-ter said.

Other provinces have also un-

Canadian unemployment rateAugust, 20L6,7o

8.0

IIIIII IIIIIIIIIII UIIIIIIIIII ljIIIMIIII IIIIIMMI UIIIIII

20LL20L2 2013 2014 2015 2016

Employment indexes by industryCanada, Jan. 2013=100

vate sector 8,ooo

1015 2016URCE: STATISTICS CANADA

Provincial unemployment ratesAugust, 20L6,'"/o

Change fromJuly, o/o

Nfld.

PEI

N.S.

N.B

Que.

Ont.

Man.

Sask.

Alta.

B.C.

Employment index .

Jan. 2013=100

105 -public

seclor

-Private sector

**Self-employedr00 ....... i..

-o'5+2.5

+0,1

-0,3+0,1

+0,3

-0.3no change

-0.2 sr

-0.r sffi

L^^^.

L.L,Y6.5

6.0

95

90

'Eril"rf*-"d. ontario' the coun-

trv'i most Populous Pro\'lnce'his added 37,zoo Positions over

the vear, an increase of,o's Per.."d. M""n*ttile, British Colum-

bia remains the countrY's eco-

nomic star. It created 72,600 new

oositions over the Year, an rn-

ire"ie of It Per cent, with gains

across most sectors'over all, the Public sector

ad-ded sz,ooo jbbs last month'with new sPots in health care

,nJ'*.i"1 ittistance' The Public,administration sector also addeo

i.* poiitio"s, desPite a decline

i" j o6t for.interviewe.rs ::$rtl*

iobs. Self-emPloYment declinedbv gg,ooo positions. August creat-ed zz,ooo new jobs for Youngerworkers, but over the Year thiscohort lost 48,ooo Positions.

Canada's jobs market stands insharp contrast to the UnitedStates, where the unemPloymentrate has steadilY droPPed sincethe Great Recession and is now at

4.8 per cent.. "Canadian labour markets

remain consistent with the eco-nomic lethargY that has charac-terized the first half of this year"'Brian DePratto, an economistwith Toronto-Dominion Bank,said in a note:

Analysts polled bY Bloombergexpect-ed the economY to addr+poo jobs and the jobless rate

llll llllll il ll Illl rrllllll llllrr rr rrUIJIA2ot4 2015 2016

All figures seasonally adjusted