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Business Title: Canada Adds Most Jobs Since September 2008 as Full-time Employment Soars Canada added the most jobs since 2008 last month, a gain that was dominated by full-time positions and revived what had been a stalling labor market in the world’s 10th largest economy. Employment rose by 82,300 following a decline of 2,800 in February, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa, lowering the jobless rate to 7.2 percent from 7.4 percent. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a 10,500 gain in jobs and 7.4 percent unemployment, according to the median forecasts. Employment growth should add to household spending that the Bank of Canada said last month has been rising faster than expected. Governor Mark Carney said in an April 2 speech that high household debt loads and sluggish exports remain major risks to the recovery, and has kept his key lending rate at 1 percent since September 2010 to boost demand. “The momentum in the economy is stronger than previously thought and we are better able to weather these external shocks,” said Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto. “We had been seeing no growth in jobs so far this year, which raised concerns” and today’s report may lead the central bank to raise rates sooner, he said. Canada’s dollar erased earlier losses after the report, gaining 0.3 percent to 99.29 cents per U.S. dollar at 8:52 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0072. Canada’s benchmark 2-year bond fell, with the yield rising 1 basis point to 1.23 percent. Full-Time Gains Full-time employment jumped by 70,000 in March while part- time positions grew by 12,400, Statistics Canada said. About 42,600 jobs were created by companies and 20,900 in the public sector. Health care and social assistance employment rose by 31,500 in March, followed by a gain of 28,300 for information, culture and recreation firms. Manufacturing rose by 11,800, the fourth consecutive increase. Toyota Motor Corp. said March 28 it would add about 400 new jobs at a Woodstock, Ontario, factory to increase its production capacity of RAV4 model vehicles. Average hourly earnings of permanent employees rose 2.5 percent in March from a year earlier. The Bank of Canada says that figure is a key indicator of inflation. Public administration work rose by 15,000 positions in March, Statistics Canada said. Government Cuts Coming Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s budget last week showed plans for 19,200 federal government job cuts, or 4.8 percent of the total, to help eliminate the budget deficit. About 7,200 of those reductions will come through expected attrition. The largest job loss by industry in March was a 24,600 decline for educational services. Workers designated by Statistics Canada as employees rose by 63,600 while the self-employed rose by 18,800 in March. Today’s release was the first time this indicator was published at 8:30 a.m., rather than 7 a.m., a move that standardizes the release time for all statistics. In a separate report, the agency said building permits rose 7.5 percent in February to C$6.51 billion ($6.52 billion), faster than the 2 percent gain economists forecast. Non- residential permits jumped 36.2 percent to C$2.54 billion while residential permits fell 5.3 percent to C$3.97 billion. The U.S. may report tomorrow that payrolls increased by 203,000 in March with unemployment unchanged at 8.3 percent, according to the median estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
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