The employment situation in Canada increased past expectations in February, buoyed by lifted COVID-19 restrictions that were imposed to restrict the omicron variant
Canada added 336,600 jobs last month, after reporting a decline of 200,000 jobs in January, according to Statistics Canada. Consensus estimates were for 127,500. The increase brought the country’s unemployment rate to 5.5% thereby tightening the labour market, according to the labour-force survey Statistics Canada released Friday.
With the jobs market at full capacity, it is anticipated that the Bank of Canada will hike rates this month and then proceed with as many as six for the remainder of 2022.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., job opening data showed a drop in January, but openings still remained near record highs. Record worker shortages showed a continuation of a tight labour market—and is expected to keep inflation high.
The Labor Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report is watched by the U.S. Federal Reserve for signs of labor slack. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, dropped 185,000 to 11.263 million on the last day of January. Also, the quits level, reflective of the so-called Great Resignation, declined to its lowest total since October.