OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian economy added jobs in November and the unemployment rate beat forecasts as fewer people looked for work, official data showed on Friday, evidence that jobs market remains hot even after a series of central bank interest-rate hikes.
Canada added 10,100 jobs in November, higher than the 5,000 forecast, while the jobless rate fell to 5.1% as fewer people sought work than in October, Statistics Canada said. Analysts had forecast the jobless rate would tick up to 5.3%.
The November report builds on a monster gain of 108,300 jobs in October and comes just days ahead of a Bank of Canada policy-setting meeting on Wednesday. The central bank has raised rates by 350 basis points since March, one of the steepest tightening cycles ever.
Before the report, money markets showed most investors expect a 25-basis-point hike next week, with some betting on a 50-basis-point increase. The central bank has forecast the economy would stall in the fourth quarter through mid-2023.
Average hourly wages of permanent employees increased 5.4% in November versus 5.5% the previous month, Statscan said. The small jobs gain was entirely for full-time work and mostly in the services sector, while the participation rate edged down to 64.8% from 64.9% in October.
The employment rate among core-aged women reached a new record high of 81.6% in November, Statscan said.
(Reporting by Steve Scherer and Dale Smith; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
