UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN CANADA REACHES 40-YEAR LOW Canada added 94,100 net jobs for its largest monthly increase since March 2012 when there was a gain of 94,000 jobs, Statistics Canada said in its labour force survey. The November surge was fuelled by other positives: 89,900 new full-time positions and 78,600 employee jobs in the private sector. The jobless rate fell to 5.6 per cent last month from October’s reading of 5.8 per cent, which had been the previous low mark since comparable data first became available in 1976. The old statistical approach, prior to 1976, registered an unem- ployment rate reading of 5.4 per cent in 1974.
CANADIAN INFLATION RATE SINKS TO 1.7% Lower gas prices, which were five per cent lower in November than they were a year earlier, pulled Canada’s annual inflation rate in November down to 1.7 percent, the first time in 10 months it has been below the Bank of Canada’s 2.0 percent target, underscoring market expec- tations that imminent interest rate hikes are off the table.
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DECEMBER 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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