OTTAWA — Statistics Canada will say this morning how Canada’s job market fared last month as COVID-19 case counts rose along with a new round of public health restrictions.
The labour force has clawed back about three-quarters of the three million jobs lost during lockdowns in March and April.
The country has seen six consecutive months of job increases since then, but the pace of gains slowed between September and October.
Expectations for November is that the country will eke out another gain.
Financial data firm Refinitiv says the average economist estimate is for a gain of 20,000 jobs, and an unemployment rate unchanged from October at 8.9 per cent.
Brendon Bernard, an economist with job-posting site Indeed, says job losses in November could be heavy in the food services sector because of widespread restrictions.
He also noted that the jobs numbers today won’t capture the latest round of restrictions in the country’s biggest city, Toronto, that came into effect Nov. 23, two days after the labour force survey week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2020.
