Private sector starts hiring again (really!)

We've seen a big upswing in IT hiring lately and this article from teh Globe and Mail confirms that... for those of you tired of your job, but didn't want to move jobs during a recession - polish off that resume over the holidays and start job hunting... IT hiring is in the upswing!

Article here

Private sector starts hiring again

Canada's economy created a stunning 79,000 jobs in November as the private sector finally began hiring again.

The Canadian unemployment rate dipped to 8.5 per cent from 8.6 per cent as both full-time and part-time jobs rose and the number of self-employed declined, Statistics Canada said Friday.

In the U.S., where earlier this year the economy was losing around 600,000 jobs a month, the unemployment rate fell to 10 per cent in November and just 11,000 positions were shed. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had anticipated a drop of 125,000 U.S. jobs.

“Job numbers tend to be quite volatile, but there may be something to this,” said Eric Lascelles, chief economics and rates strategist at TD Securities in Toronto. “With the U.S. number coming in a lot stronger than expected, it may be the case that the North American and global economies are turning quicker than expected.''

The bulk of new Canadian jobs came in the services sector, where employment is now back at levels not seen since October, 2008, when the labour market peaked just as the financial crisis was escalating in the wake of the mid-September collapse of Lehman Brothers. In the goods-producing sector, employment is still down sharply from a year ago.

With the gains in November, employment in Canada is still down 1.9 per cent, or 321,000, from that peak last year. Still, it is the first real sign of a change in the private sector, where few jobs had been created until last month. Economists caution, however, that monthly numbers can swing wildly, particularly in education, where many of the gains were made.

TD's Mr. Lascelles circulated a note to investors showing that at least eight times over the past decade, a sizable gain or loss in education jobs was followed by the opposite.

For that reason, and because the U.S. economy is still experiencing declines in credit growth, Mr. Lascelles said he is still “somewhat dubious” and doesn't yet see the Bank of Canada or the Federal Reserve speeding up their exits from the current era of record-low borrowing costs.

“Central banks are going to want to be dead sure we're well on the way to a sustained recovery before removing stimulus,” he said.

Nonetheless, referring to today's data and the 43,000 drop in Canadian jobs in October, CIBC economist Avery Shenfeld said in a note that, “whether Canadian employment levels are really as choppy as they look from month to month,” it's clear that Canadians are “getting back to work in impressive numbers in an economy that is now decidedly on the mend.”

The economy has now created an average 25,000 new jobs a month since July, Mr. Shenfeld noted, adding that figure is “indicative” of what CIBC sees as average job creation for next year.

In November, the private sector added 57,000 jobs and the public sector 54,000. The number of self-employed fell 32,000.

Job creation was concentrated in education, manufacturing and finance.

“In recent months, the number of employees in the public sector, as well as the number of self-employed, has trended up, while in the private sector, the trend has been relatively flat,” the federal statistics gathering agency said.

The Canadian dollar surged by about a cent.

The increase in jobs was concentrated among women aged 25 to 34 and men over the age of 55. For women in that age bracket, Statistics Canada noted, employment is almost back to its peak. For men in that group, employment remains well below that peak, down 3.3 per cent or 203,000.

In one sign of the times, average hourly wages in November rose just 2.3 per cent, marking the lowest annual growth since March, 2007.

Between October, 2008, and March of this year, jobs have been shed in almost all industries, notably manufacturing and construction, the agency said. Since March, though, the erosion in manufacturing has slowed.

Several provinces showed notable change:

-In Ontario, employment rose by 27,000, the sharpest gain since September 2008, while the jobless rate remained at 9.3 per cent.

-In Quebec, which has suffered less then many other provinces, the jobless rate fell 0.4 percentage point to 8.1 per cent as 21,000 jobs were created.

-Alberta saw its biggest monthly increase, at 13,000, since the market peak.

-Employment inched up in British Columbia, and Statistics Canada noted that 27,000 jobs have now been created there since March.