Canada posts steepest one-month jobs loss in 9 years, down 88K positions

The number of jobs in Canada fell by 88,000 in January to give the labour market its steepest one-month drop in nine years.

The overall result was dragged down by a loss of 137,000 part-time positions in what was the category’s largest one-month collapse on record.

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Statistics Canada’s latest jobs survey says the overall decline helped push the national unemployment rate up to 5.9 per cent in January, from a revised 5.8 per cent the previous month.

READ MORE: Canada’s unemployment rate falls to lowest rate in over 40 years: StatCan

But on the other hand, the agency says the economy generated 49,000 full-time positions last month.

“Overall, a mysterious mix of good and bad, with the latter’s impact blunted by how strong job gains were in the leadup to these figures,” CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld wrote in a research note to clients.

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The January reading marked the end of a 13-month streak of job gains. However, about half of those positive numbers were within the survey’s margin of error.

The release left economists puzzled, especially because the data indicates that labour force participation, the share of Canadians working or looking for work, dropped. A strong labour market, like the one Canada has seen in recent months, generally invites more people to rejoin the labour force and apply for jobs.

Nationally, the survey revealed that the number of paid employee positions also experienced a significant loss last month by shedding 112,000 positions. By comparison, the number of people who identified as self-employed workers – often seen as a less desirable category that includes unpaid work in a family business – increased last month by 23,900.

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Wage growth also received a boost in January, a month that saw Ontario lift its minimum wage. Compared with the year before, average hourly wages for permanent employees expanded by 3.3 per cent. By region, the agency said Ontario and Quebec saw the biggest decreases last month, while New Brunswick and Manitoba also had net losses.

Ontario saw a 51,000 drop in the number of employed persons, all of which occurred among part-time workers. But while that would at first glance suggest a hit from the province’s new $14-an-hour minimum wage, a closer look at the numbers indicates it was due to a drop in the labour force participation, Shenfeld said.

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– With files from Erica Alini, Global News