Canadian employment up in October despite virus containment measures - RBC Financial Group

According to ActionForex, analysts at RBC Financial Group note that employment in Canada rose 84k in October, despite a drag from virus containment measures in some industries.

"Employment was still running over 600k below pre-shock February levels in October, and the pace of employment growth is clearly slowing. The 84k increase in employment in October was about a quarter of the average over the prior three months. The re-imposition of Covid-19 containment measures – targeting largely indoor restaurants, bars, and recreational facilities – pushed employment in accommodation & food services down sharply again (-48k)."

"Labour markets are still exceptionally weak. The unemployment rate ticked down to 8.9% in October, but that is still above the peak rate in the 2008/09 recession. Labour force participation has rebounded relatively quickly. The participation rate for 25-54 year-olds actually hit a new record high in October, well-above pre-shock levels. But there were still more than 400k people working less than half their usual hours in October."

"The big question remains how much of the already slowing pace of job growth can be sustained given the resurgence in virus cases. Hours worked also rose 0.8% in October, suggesting that the GDP may have continued to increase in the month, but the risk of more stringent containment measures will remain as long as does the virus risk."