- Prior was 41.4K
- Unemployment rate 5.2% vs 5.1% expected (5.0% prior)
- Participation rate 65.5% vs 65.6% prior
- Full time -32.7K vs -6.2K prior
- Part time +15.5K vs +47.6K prior
- Average hourly wages for permanent employees +5.1% y/y vs +5.2% prior
- Total hours worked -0.4% m/m, +2.2% y/y
This is normally a volatile report but we haven't had a negative reading since August. Normally, I would brush it aside but there was persistent US dollar selling yesterday after just one poor weekly jobless claims data point. So far, USD/CAD has risen to 1.335 from 1.3320.
The details here are important as all the job losses were among youths age 15-24 (-77K) with prime age workers aged 25-54 up by 63K. That could be a sign of less student-hiring this year and an indication of economic softness but it could just be seasonal adjustment factors.
This is the first rise in unemployment since August 2022. There were fewer people employed in business, building and other support services (-31,000; -4.4%), as well in professional, scientific and technical services (-13,000; -0.7%). Employment increased in manufacturing (+13,000; +0.7%), "other services" (+11,000; +1.5%) and utilities (+4,200; +2.7%).
