The following article appeared in the June 9 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
Guelph’s unemployment rate has edged higher but it continues to have one of the best job situations among Canadian cities.
The latest Stats Canada job figures show Guelph’s unemployment rate is at 5.5 per cent. That’s up from 5.4 per cent in April but it still the lowest rate in Ontario. In Canada, Guelph’s unemployment rate is bested only by: Regina (3.9 per cent); Calgary and Edmonton (4.9 per cent); Quebec City (5.1 per cent); and, Winnipeg at 5.4 per cent.
Guelph’s statistical up-tick in employment was tracked in a period where slow job creation growth was noted nationally.
Canada’s job creation machine continued to chug along in May, although at a slower pace than in the previous months.
The economy added 7,700 jobs across the country during the month — slightly more than economists expected after huge increases earlier this year.
Canada added a total of 140,000 jobs in March and April, the biggest two-month labour market expansion the country has seen in three decades.
Economists had expected May to have brought 5,000 new jobs, and the unemployment rate to have edged up to 7.4 per cent.
In fact the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.3 per cent.
The jobs improvement last month came in a broad range of sectors, although there were areas of weakness.
“A sizeable gain in manufacturing was the bright spot, but there was a pull back in construction and a drop overall in services,” CIBC World Markets economist Avery Shenfeld said in a research note.
“Construction may be reflecting the earlier start to the building season, resulting in less than normal hiring now. Still, markets won’t make too much of the reading, given the massive gains in March and April.”
In fact, economists have been having difficulty predicting the jobs numbers ahead of Statistics Canada’s monthly reports — with estimates far short of the actual number.
BMO deputy chief economist Douglas Porter described the May report as “a refreshing change” with no major surprises.
“Details of the release were mixed to slightly disappointing, but certainly not troubling. Full-time jobs rose a modest 1,400, as most of the mild gains were part-time. Private sector employment was down 22,500, with most of the gains in self-employment,” Porter wrote.