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Province sees net gain of 1K jobs in May

By: by Murray McNeill

Friday, Jun. 8, 2012 at 1:51 PM | Comments: 0

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s economy shifted back into the job-creation mode in May, gaining back more than half of the 1,800 positions it shed the previous month.

Statistics Canada labour-force figures released today show Manitoba posted a net gain of 1,000 new jobs in May, all of them part-time positions.

The agency said although the economy lost 4,300 full-time positions during the month, it added 5,300 part-time ones.

That gain, coupled with 200 workers leaving the provincial labour force, pushed down the provincial unemployment rate to 5.1 per cent from 5.3 per cent in April. That’s the second lowest jobless rate in the country after Alberta and Saskatchewan, both of which saw their rates fall from 4.9 per cent to 4.5 per cent.

Nationally, Canada’s job-creation machine slowed in May following two massive months of employment gains. But it still managed to squeeze out 7,700 additional jobs — slightly more than expected and enough to keep the unemployment rate steady.

The increase was due to the addition of self-employed, government and part-time workers, which offset a decline in full-time employment in the private sector — possibly a sign that Canadian businesses were cautious about adding jobs.

Economists had largely anticipated the slowdown on the labour front, given that March and April saw an eye-popping 140,000 new jobs created, a 30-year high for a two-month period.

But because Canada’s economic growth rate slipped below two per cent in the first quarter, analysts believed such numbers were unsustainable.

The May jobs report from Statistics Canada was seen as mostly welcome news and an indication that the debt crisis and recessionary climate in Europe hadn’t spooked Canadian employers.

"I’m just relieved it wasn’t an outright decline," said Doug Porter, Bank of Montreal’s deputy chief economist.

"It’s far from a surprise that we get a little bit of a slowdown in job creation, especially given what just happened south of the border."

Last week, the U.S. reported only 69,000 new jobs were created in May, the third straight disappointing performance.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

— with files by Canadian Press

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