Canada’s Economy Adds 7,100 Workers in July as Jobless Rate Drops to 7.2%

Canada added jobs for the fourth straight monthly in July as gains in construction and transportation offset losses in government employment and education, while the unemployment rate fell to the lowest since 2008 on a shrinking labor force.

Employment rose by 7,100 on a seasonally adjusted basis, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa, less than the 15,000 median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 27 economists. The jobless rate fell to 7.2 percent from 7.4 percent in June, while economists had forecast the jobless rate would be unchanged.

The employment report shows the economy continued to create jobs even as the recovery faded, though slowing wage growth suggests the labor market is softening. Wage growth decelerated in July to its slowest since 2003, the statistics agency said.

“The real concern is the ongoing reduction in the wage growth,” said Derek Holt, vice-president economics with Scotia Capital in Toronto. “It remains bearish for consumption going forward.”

Canada’s job market has recovered from the global recession faster than other Group of Seven countries, as the economy benefited from rising prices for commodities and a buoyant real estate market propelled by low borrowing costs.

Canada has added about 25,000 jobs on average each month since August 2009.

Canadian Dollar Falls

The Canadian dollar fell after the report. It was trading at 98.22 cents per U.S. dollar at 7:29 a.m. in New York, compared with 98.15 cents late yesterday.

Canada’s gross domestic product fell by 0.3 percent in May, the most in two years, due to temporary disruptions in the mining and oil and gas industries, Statistics Canada said July 29.

The Bank of Canada said July 20 the economy’s growth probably slowed to a 1.5 percent annual pace in the second quarter, the slowest rate since the country emerged from recession in 2009, amid a weak global recovery. Governor Mark Carney has kept the central bank’s benchmark policy rate at 1 percent since September.

Average hourly wages rose 1.4 percent in July from a year ago, down from 2 percent in the previous month, to reach the slowest annual pace since June 2003, Statistics Canada said.

Transportation Rises

The economy created 94,500 private sector jobs during the month, led by a gain of 30,800 in construction employment. Retail and wholesale increased by 27,500 jobs, while transportation and warehousing businesses added 27,700 workers.

Canadian National Railway, the country’s biggest railroad based on sales, said July 25 it added 1,188 employees over the 12 months through June, a 5.4 percent increase.

Public-sector employment declined by 71,500 in the month and the number of self-employed workers dropped by 15,900, the agency said.

Schools fired 30,000 employees in July. The statistics agency said that while there have been similar drops in summer educational employment in recent years, it doesn’t have enough data to determine whether the swings need to be adjusted for seasonality.

Full-time employment rose by 25,500 during July while part- time jobs dropped by 18,400, the report said.

The U.S. Labor Department will release employment data for July at 8:30 a.m. New York time. The U.S. jobless rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 9.2 percent, the median of 84 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.

To contact the reporter on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bbloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net; Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net