Comments on February 2015 Canada Employment Numbers

I didn't get a chance to comment on the employment numbers for February that came out last Friday.

Across Canada employment dropped by 1,000 jobs although full-time employment increased by 34,000. Working age population increased by 31,000 month over month.

Manufacturing declined significantly. From the Statscan website:

"The number of people employed in manufacturing fell by 20,000 in February, the first decline since August 2014. The bulk of the losses in February occurred in Ontario and Alberta."

So even with the decline of the Canadian dollar, Ontario manufacturing employment is still declining. That contrasts with the story the media is trying to tell with a rebound of Ontario manufacturing. Certainly a lower dollar can take time to have an effect. One wonders how much Ontario manufacturing goes towards the petroleum sector.

The news on public versus private employment wasn't so great either:

"Between January and February, the number of public sector employees rose by 24,000, while there was little change in the number of private sector employees and the self-employed.
On a year-over-year basis, self-employment grew by 60,000 or 2.2% and the number of public sector employees was up by 43,000 or 1.2%. Over the same period, the number of private sector employees was little changed."

I'll look closer at the Ontario numbers and the other provinces in a subsequent post.