=DJ DATA SNAP:Canada Jan Jobs Rebound;Jobless Rate Up Unexpectedly-2
Canadian employers hired 16,100 full-time workers last month and 10,200 part-timers. The public sector added 42,800 employees, but the private sector laid off 12,900.
The biggest job gain was in public administration, which saw an increase of 15,000, bolstered by temporary workers hired for the Jan. 23 federal election.
Employers in the natural resources sector hired 12,300 workers with the strongest gains in Alberta and British Columbia. Employment in this sector has jumped 19.2% since the end of 2002, fueled by Alberta's strong oil and gas sector.
Employment in the "other services" category was up 12,400 and finance, insurance and real estate jobs were up 10,800. The construction sector added a modest 5,000 workers.
However, the manufacturing sector continued to bleed jobs, shedding 41,600 workers, the most since February 1991. Most of the layoffs occurred in Ontario and was concentrated in the furniture and auto sectors. Manufacturers have had to deal with the impact of the strong Canadian dollar, competition from cheaper imports and fewer new orders in recent months, the statistics agency noted. Manufacturing employment has fallen 8.2% since the end of 2002, the agecny added.
Overall, the goods producing sector laid off 34,400 workers last month, but hiring in the services producing sector was up 60,700. Compared with the year earlier period, Canadian employment is up 1.7% or 269,000, marginally less than the 2.0% increase in the U.S., Statistics Canada said.
The Canadian dollar was slightly weaker after the data was released at 7 a.m. EST, with the U.S. dollar quoted at C$1.1475 compared with C$1.1485 just before the data was released.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 10, 2006 07:24 ET (12:24 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 07 24 AM EST 02-10-06 |
