By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA--Hiring in Canada rebounded strongly last month but not by enough to budge the jobless rate as the country's population continues to expand and wage growth slows.
After stalling the month before, Canada's economy added 90,400 jobs in April, the largest increase in 15 months, Statistics Canada reported Friday. Still, the unemployment rate was steady at 6.1%, the highest since the start of 2022.
The pace of hiring was considerably stronger than market expectations for the addition of a modest 20,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 6.2%.
With April's surge, employment among working-age Canadians has climbed more than 166,000 so far this year, even after March's loss of 2,200 jobs. Yet with immigration driving the population upward, the labor force has grown at a faster clip for months, jumping by 107,500 in April alone.
The employment rate, the proportion of the working-age population that is employed, was unchanged in April at 61.4% after declining for six straight months.
In comments to lawmakers earlier this month, Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem noted employment growth had cooled from overheated levels and there were some signs that wage pressures had begun to ease. He said the central bank was getting closer to lowering rates but remained focused on supply and demand in the economy, inflation expectations, corporate pricing and wage growth.
The bank has forecast that the economy, which stalled in the latter half of last year, will see solid growth this year and strengthen further in 2025 even as core inflation gradually eases.
Wage growth continues to outpace broader inflation but eased in April, adding to evidence that high interest rates continue to have an affect on the economy. Average hourly wages for permanent employees rose 4.8% from a year earlier following 5.0% growth in March, though that was just ahead of the 4.7% advance economists anticipated.
Compared with the U.S., unemployment in Canada continues to trend higher. Canada's jobless rate calculated using U.S. Labor Department methodology eased 0.1 percentage point in April to 5.1%, but that was 1.2 percentage points higher than in the U.S. And compared with a year earlier, unemployment in Canada increased 1 percentage point against a modest 0.5 point increase for its neighbor.
Canada's government has moved to restrict the number of temporary residents, which should mean population figures begin to slow in the coming months, though the policies aren't likely to impact population growth until later in the year.
Statistics Canada's survey showed total hours worked increased 0.8% on-month in April, and were up 1.2% compared with a year earlier.
The jobs added in April were driven by the private sector, and services-producing industries with hiring led by professional, scientific and technical services roles as well as more people working in accommodation and food services.
Part-time work also led the increase, rising by 50,300 from the month before, while full-time employments increased 40,100.
With strong employment growth and steady unemployment last month, the labor-force participation rate--the proportion of the working-age population who were either employed or unemployed--picked up 0.1 point from March to 65.4%, the first increase since mid-2023.
Write to Robb M. Stewart robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-10-24 0854ET
