Canada’s jobs report disappointed, snapping a multi-month-long streak of solid gains.
The economy added 3,200 jobs in April, according to Statistics Canada. That number is below economists’ expectations of an 10,000 job jump.
Worse, full-time employment fell by 31,200. Most of the job gains were in part-time positions, which rose by 34,300.
“All in all, a fairly weak jobs report,” said David Madani, Senior Canada Economist at Capital Economics, in a note.
Breaking down the data by age, employment dropped by 20,000 for men aged 25 to 54, primarily in full-time positions. Employment ticked up for those aged 55 and up.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 6.5% from 6.7%. It was at 7.1% about a year ago.
"[T]here still appears to be significant underemployment," Madani added. "Wages and salaries growth has been sluggish mainly because of a slowdown in hours worked. This is broadly consistent with the recent decline in core inflation, a trend which justifies the Bank of Canada's cautious stance on the outlook for interest rates."
The previous month saw 19,400 jobs added, far above economists' expectations of 5,700. Crucially, almost all the jobs added in March were full-time, as opposed to part-time.