-Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets
Canada's economy created the most jobs in more than a decade last month, boosted by full-time employment ranging from construction sector, suggesting resilience in domestic demand even despite weak demand from abroad. On Friday, Statistics Canada said employment surged by 95,000 in May, the biggest monthly gain since August 2012, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 7.1% compared to 7.2% in preceding month as more Canadians joined the workforce. All the new working places came in the private sector and in the employee class, while 76,600 of them were full-time.
The nation's labour market was considered as struggling in the beginning of this year, with the first four months registering a net loss of 13,000 jobs, due to the poor economy during the second half of 2012. Though the latest data now appears more in line with moderate economic growth. During the last 12 months, the economy has produced job gains of around 250,000, while hours rose 1.1%. At the same time, youth unemployment was recently pushed to 13.6%, almost a full point lower than in the prior month. Despite the recovery of Canada's labour market, the manufacturing sector still did not join the bounty and is continuing losing jobs.
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