Canada gained a higher-than-expected 30,300 net jobs in February while the unemployment rate rose to 5.6 per cent, official data showed on Friday.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a gain of 10,000 jobs in February and an unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent. Wages for permanent employees – a metric watched closely by the Bank of Canada – rose by 4.3 per cent, Statistics Canada said.
Canada’s central bank slashed a key interest rate on Wednesday by half a percentage point, the most in more than a decade, as it worked to try and protect Canada’s economy from an coronavirus outbreak and said it was prepared to ease further if needed. Money markets are anticipating another rate cut in April.
All the gains were in full-time jobs, Statscan said. Canada’s goods-producing industries gained 5,600 net jobs, largely on manufacturing, which offset declines in the construction and natural resources industries.
(Reuters)
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