Canada’s jobs report looks great at first glance, but the underlying numbers tell a different story.
Employment surged by 67,000 in September, according to the latest report from Statistics Canada, making it the biggest monthly gain since April 2012.
That number is more than three times the highest estimate in the Bloomberg economist survey.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.0%, which the report attributes to an increase in labor-market participation.
Most of the increase in jobs, however, came from the part-time and self-employment categories.
Statistics Canada reported that self-employment rose by 50,100 in September, while the number of "employees" increased by just 17,000. Part-time work rose by 44,100, while full-time work ticked up by 23,000.
Moreover, employment for those over 55 rose by 56,000.
"The massive 67,000 increase in employment in September will reassure the Bank of Canada that the economy is still enjoying a decent rebound following the wildfire disruption in the second quarter. Nevertheless, the details of the report were nowhere near as good as the headline gain," Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics' chief North America economist, wrote in a note.
"The upshot is that even though this is an unusually large increase in employment, it appears to be almost entirely low paid positions."
Still, the loonie surged after the report; it was little changed for the day around 1.3212 per dollar as of 9:13 a.m. ET.
