Canada’s labour market created a surprising 108,000 jobs in October according to Statistics Canada, handily surpassing economist expectations of 10,000 new positions, as average hourly wages rose 5.6% year over year, increasing at a faster pace than the 5.2% improvement in September.
October’s employment data marked the second consecutive month of job gains for the Canadian economy, erasing three straight months of losses from June to August, in which the more than 113,000 jobs were shed.
READ: S&P leads gains as October jobs report comes in red hot
All of October’s new net employment in was in full-time work, representing a 472,000 year-over-year increase.
Employment gains for the month were broad based, led by the addition of 24,600 construction positions, while private sector employment improved by 73,800 in October, one of the strongest gains in months.
As well, total hours worked in October increased by 0.7%, the biggest gain since June.
Canada’s consecutive monthly jobs gains suggest a tightening labour market following a sluggish summer and raises concerns that the Bank of Canada will need to reaccelerate its rate-hiking efforts to slow demand and try to contain inflationary pressures, according to BNN Bloomberg.
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