Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2010	8.30
2009	7.30	8.00	8.10	8.10	8.50	8.60	8.60	8.70	8.30	8.40	8.40	8.40
2008	5.90	5.90	6.00	6.10	6.10	6.00	6.10	6.10	6.20	6.20	6.50	6.80
2007	6.20	6.20	6.10	6.10	6.00	6.00	6.10	6.00	5.90	5.90	6.00	6.00
2006	6.60	6.40	6.30	6.30	6.00	6.10	6.30	6.40	6.40	6.20	6.30	6.10

Canada Gained Jobs in January
Published: 2/5/2010 8:49:14 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bloomberg

Canada gained more jobs than expected in January, led by part-time positions for youth, pushing the unemployment rate down. Employment rose by 43,000 last month, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent.

Full-time employment rose by 1,400 in January, while part- time jobs surged by about 41,500, Statistics Canada said.

The country lost 16,000 jobs over the past 12 months, supporting comments by policy makers that the labor market has stabilized. From the employment peak in October 2008, Canada lost 280,000 jobs.

Goods-producing industries fired 23,100 workers in January while services sectors hired 66,100 people. Porter said that result “plays to the fact that the recovery is being led by domestic demand and not so much by exports.”

Employment for people aged between 15 and 24 improved by 29,300 positions, led by a 25,800 gain in part-time work. The unemployment rate for that group fell to 15.1 percent, from 16 percent in December.

Employment in the business, building and other support services sector grew by 34,400 workers, and retailers and wholesalers hired 23,400 workers. Self-employment dropped by 24,000 while the number of employees rose 67,000.

Ontario accounted for more than half the gain with an improvement of 30,300 jobs.

Average hourly wage growth decelerated to 1.8 percent in January from a year ago, Statistics Canada said, compared with 2.4 percent in the previous month. It was the slowest pace of wage growth since June, 2003. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said yesterday that slowing wage growth will help restrain inflation.

Statistics Canada revised December’s employment loss on Jan. 29 to 28,300 from 2,600, and lowered the unemployment rate to 8.4 percent from 8.5 percent.

Canada Economic News

Canada Economy Expands 0.4%
Published: 1/29/2010 10:03:36 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Statistics Canada

Real gross domestic product advanced 0.4% in November, a third consecutive monthly increase. As was the case in September and October, most major industrial sectors increased their production.

Canada Inflation Hits 10-month High
Published: 1/20/2010 10:15:06 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Reuters

Higher gasoline prices pushed Canada's annual inflation rate to a 10-month high in December, but the data is unlikely to knock the Bank of Canada off track in its pledge to hold interest rates steady for some time.

Bank of Canada Holds Rate Low
Published: 1/19/2010 9:56:51 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bloomberg

Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 0.25% and reiterates conditional commitment to hold current policy rate until the end of the second quarter of 2010.

Canada Slips Back Into Trade Deficit in November
Published: 1/16/2010 2:12:36 PM By: TradingEconomics.com, Reuters

Canada's trade balance unexpectedly slipped back into deficit in November as strong imports, led by vehicles from the United States, outweighed export gains from rising oil prices.

Canada Jobs Unexpectedly Fall
Published: 1/8/2010 8:43:49 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bloomberg

Canada unexpectedly lost jobs in December, led by transportation and public administration, keeping the jobless rate close to the highest in more than a decade.

Canada's Economy Grew 0.2% in October
Published: 12/23/2009 10:27:25 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bloomberg

Canada’s economy grew 0.2 percent in October, less than economists expected, as gains in real estate services and utilities offset a drop in mining output.

Canada Inflation Quickens
Published: 12/17/2009 9:32:12 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bloomberg

Canadian consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in eight months in November because of higher gasoline costs, the national statistics agency said.

Canada Unexpectedly Swings to Trade Surplus
Published: 12/10/2009 9:26:59 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bloomberg

Canada posted its first trade surplus in four months in October on rising shipments and higher prices for the nation’s gold and energy.

Canada Keeps Rate at 0.25%
Published: 12/8/2009 9:35:16 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bank of Canada

Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 0.25% and reiterates conditional commitment to hold current policy rate until the end of the second quarter of 2010.

More news

Unemployment Rate Definition

The labour force is defined as the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The participation rate is the number of people in the labour force divided by the size of the adult civilian noninstitutional population (or by the population of working age that is not institutionalised). The nonlabour force includes those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalised such as in prisons or psychiatric wards, stay-at home spouses, kids, and those serving in the military. The unemployment level is defined as the labour force minus the number of people currently employed. The unemployment rate is defined as the level of unemployment divided by the labour force. The employment rate is defined as the number of people currently employed divided by the adult population (or by the population of working age). In these statistics, self-employed people are counted as employed.

Variables like employment level, unemployment level, labour force, and unfilled vacancies are called stock variables because they measure a quantity at a point in time. They can be contrasted with flow variables which measure a quantity over a duration of time. Changes in the labour force are due to flow variables such as natural population growth, net immigration, new entrants, and retirements from the labour force. Changes in unemployment depend on: inflows made up of non-employed people starting to look for jobs and of employed people who lose their jobs and look for new ones; and outflows of people who find new employment and of people who stop looking for employment.

When looking at the overall macroeconomy, several types of unemployment have been identified, including:
Frictional unemployment — This reflects the fact that it takes time for people to find and settle into new jobs. If 12 individuals each take one month before they start a new job, the aggregate unemployment statistics will record this as a single unemployed worker. Technological change often reduces frictional unemployment, for example: the internet made job searches cheaper and more comprehensive.
Structural unemployment — This reflects a mismatch between the skills and other attributes of the labour force and those demanded by employers. If 4 workers each take six months off to re-train before they start a new job, the aggregate unemployment statistics will record this as two unemployed workers. Technological change often increases structural unemployment, for example: technological change might require workers to re-train.
Natural rate of unemployment — This is the summation of frictional and structural unemployment. It is the lowest rate of unemployment that a stable economy can expect to achieve, seeing as some frictional and structural unemployment is inevitable. Economists do not agree on the natural rate, with estimates ranging from 1% to 5%, or on its meaning — some associate it with "non-accelerating inflation". The estimated rate varies from country to country and from time to time.
Demand deficient unemployment — In Keynesian economics, any level of unemployment beyond the natural rate is most likely due to insufficient demand in the overall economy. During a recession, aggregate expenditure is deficient causing the underutilization of inputs (including labour). Aggregate expenditure (AE) can be increased, according to Keynes, by increasing consumption spending (C), increasing investment spending (I), increasing government spending (G), or increasing the net of exports minus imports (X?M). {AE = C + I + G + (X?M)} (source: wikipedia)