Canada Finally Sees Employment Growth

This has been a year fraught with bad news about the national economy. Nearly every day, more stories about job losses and a recession with no end in sight have plagued the country. With the holiday season upon us, it is a sure bet that many Canadians have a more prosperous and financially stable new year at the top of their wish lists.

Today, The Toronto Sun reports that this wish may have already been granted. According to the report, Statistics Canada has revealed that 79,000 jobs were gained in the month of November. These additions have brought the unemployment rate down to 8.5%. After a long drought of not hiring, companies began increasing the size of their staffs last month giving Canada some of its best economic news of the year.

StatsCan notes that the service sector saw the highest rise in jobs, particularly in education. This has taken employment in this sector back to a status not experienced since October 2008. While the significant gain of employment in November is great news, overall employment remains at 1.9% below its peak from a year previous.

The goods sector, for example, remains 324,000 jobs below last year’s level. Manufacturing has especially been hit hard by the recession. Some good news regarding this sector, however, is that the pace of its job losses has been slowing down since March of this year.

The Statistics Canada report also notes that both full-time and part-time employment has increased. According to the article, “full-time jobs were added for the third month in a row, while part-time jobs gained after two months of declines.”

This is most certainly welcome news to Canadians all over the country. With the amount of stress that the recession can put on a person, it is sad to think that many will not even be able to enjoy the holidays the way that they normally would. Recent stats have shown that most citizens intend on spending less on gifts this shopping season.

No telling, however, how many have been so harshly hit by the recession that they will not be able to spend at all. With the increase in jobs right before the holiday season, it is hopeful that the joy of this time of year will not be lost on too many people in this country.

This is hopefully the case as there was no part of the nation that did not experience gains in employment last month. The strongest provinces, by the way, were Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

Not only did more Canadians gain employment last month than over the rest of the year but hourly wages also increased by 2.3%. While this is considered a low rate of growth from year-to-year, it is a glimmer of hope for many who had no hope prior to November.