- Avery Shenfeld of CIBC Economics
The Canadian economy created 22,800 net jobs in December amid a big gain in part-time jobs, according to Statistics Canada. However, the number of positions in the category of full-time employment actually declined last month by 6,400. Canada's unemployment rate remained at 7.1%. The December increase followed a decline of 35,700 jobs in November. Economists had projected the economy to add 10,000 new positions on the reported month. In addition to that, the federal agency published its 2015 review of the labour market survey that showed Canada's employment climbed 0.9% over the course of the year as the labour force bulked up by 158,000 net jobs, the best result in three years.
A separate report showed the value of Canada's building permits issued in November plummeted 19.6% amid massive declines in the energy-producing province of Alberta. The plunge was far greater than the 0.3% decline expected by economists and the biggest since the 26.7% dive seen in August 2014. The value of residential building permits dropped by 17.8% in November while non-residential permits nose-dived by 22.7%. High prices for single-family dwellings have contributed to a shift in demand for apartments. From January to November, 66.2% of new residential units approved were multi-family dwellings.
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