Full-time jobs rise, but part-time falls

TERRY WEBER
Saturday, September 11, 2004
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The Canadian economy shed 7,000 jobs in August, but the unexpected gloomy news was less severe than it looked, with full-time jobs up a steady 15,000, just not enough to offset a 22,400 decline in part-time positions.

Over all, the unemployment rate held stable at 7.2 per cent.

Most of the part-time losses in August were jobs held by youth under 25, Statistics Canada said.

Meanwhile, the full-time job gains were concentrated in industries such as construction and real estate, sectors that have benefited strongly from low interest rates that are now beginning to climb -- suggesting flatter job growth ahead.

Analysts had expected the economy to generate a modest 15,000 new jobs during the month.

"All of the job losses were in the flaky part-time category, while full-time jobs managed to rise by a solid 15,400 in the month," BMO Nesbitt Burns senior economist Douglas Porter said.

Economists said the stable jobless rate and the growth in full-time positions will allow the Bank of Canada to keep raising interest rates.

Some cautioned, however, that hiring in rate-sensitive sectors such as construction -- which has seen the benefit of a boom in residential housing on the back of low borrowing costs -- will undoubtedly give back some recent gains.

In August, Canada's construction industry added 8,900 positions. TD Securities chief strategist Marc Lévesque called the figure "absolutely phenomenal," given the gains over the past five months.

Over that period, he said, construction employment has risen by 69,900 positions, or about 7.4 per cent.

"Construction is clearly, clearly, clearly going to slow at some stage," Mr. Lévesque said, adding that the impact will likely start to be seen next year.

Over the past 12 months, full-time employment has risen by about 318,800 positions in Canada -- or about 2.5 per cent -- while part-time employment has declined by about 1,200 jobs.

Public sector hiring was down by 21,000 positions in August, while the private sector managed to generate a gain of 14,000 jobs.

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