Canada's employment back to strong gains – RBC

Josh Nye, the senior economist at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), notes that the Canadian employment rose 81,000 in August with part-time jobs accounting for most of the increase, while the unemployment was steady at 5.7% and wages continued to rise at a healthy clip.

• “Impressive job gains are nothing new—average employment growth over the last year is running at its strongest pace since 2003. August’s gain was skewed toward part-time (and younger workers) but trends in full-time and private employment have been healthy.
• Job gains have been aided by strong population growth and labour force participation, with the unemployment rate settling in a 5.5-5.8% range (as good as it gets when you look at the past 50 years).
• Wage growth, long the missing ingredient in Canada’s strengthening labour market, has firmed nicely. The LFS measure has been close to 4% in Q3, while a broader array of wage indicators was around 3% in Q2 (about consistent with full employment and 2% inflation).
• Overall, today’s jobs numbers will leave the BoC comfortable with its more neutral than expected stance taken this week. Markets seem to agree, with the Canadian dollar strengthening further this morning.”