Canada beats forecasts with gain of 30,300 jobs in show of resilience

Canada’s job market strengthened for a third-straight month, a sign of strength within the domestic economy even as the spread of coronavirus threatens future growth.

Canadian employment grew by 30,300 in February, beating economist expectations for 11,000 new jobs, Statistics Canada said Friday in Ottawa. All of the gains were concentrated in full-time work and the private sector.

At the same time, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to a still low 5.6 per cent in the month, from 5.5 per cent in January. Annual wage gains decelerated slightly to 4.3 per cent from 4.4 per cent in the prior month. Hours worked rose 2.3 per cent on the year and 1.2 per cent on the month.

‍