Canada shed 63,000 jobs in December, the first time the job market in Canada has contracted since April when the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was just being felt.
Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the jobless rate in December was 8.6 per cent, up 0.1 percentage points from the 8.5 per cent recorded in November.
Full-time employment in Canada last month increased by 36,500. However, 99,000 part-time jobs were lost in December
Statistics Canada also revealed that the total hours worked in December dropped 0.3 per cent, making it the first decline since April 2020.
Analysts had been expecting December’s numbers to be lower after provinces like Ontario and Quebec entered into strict lockdowns last month. However, Decembers were far worse than the decline of 39,000 forecast.
Importantly, it’s also the first decline since April, and a strong indication that any economic recovery in Canada could be fading fast.
Doug Porter, a Bank of Montreal economist, said that 2020 will now officially go down as the worst year for Canadian jobs since 1982. He said:
“With restrictions broadening and lengthening since the December survey, we may well see another pullback in next month’s report,”
“But the good news, such as it is, is that Shutdown 2 is imposing a much less severe economic cost than in the spring, especially in sectors not directly affected.”
Doug Porter
