Canada: Employment surges higher again in April - RBC

Nathan Janzen, senior economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, notes that the Canadian headline employment was up 107k in April, marking its largest increase in more than 40 years. 

Key Quotes

“The unemployment rate fell to 5.7% from 5.8% despite an uptick in the labour force participation rate.”

“The employment count is up 426k from a year ago, for a whopping average monthly increase of 36k per month over that period.  The typically more-stable unemployment rate dipped back close to cycle lows at 5.7% in April despite a tick up in the labour force participation rate.”

“The soft spot in the labour market data remains wages, but year-over-year growth in average hourly earnings did tick up for a third straight month, rising to 2.5% in April from 2.4% in March.  The recent drift higher is encouraging but the pace is still slower than would normally be expected with labour markets otherwise looking quite tight.”