The western world may be in the grip of an unprecedented financial crisis but Canada’s employers hired more workers in September than ever before; 107,000 new jobs were created in September, according to Statistics Canada.

The detail of the job figures, however, is slightly less encouraging. Of the new jobs, 97,000 were in part-time positions and only 10,000 were full-time jobs

The country’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.1% – the increase in employment was matched by an increase in available workers.

Five provinces were largely responsible for the employment gains. These were Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.

Employment in Ontario rose by 52,000, bringing growth so far in 2008 to 1.6%. Despite these gains, Ontario’s unemployment rate rose to 6.4%, as a large number of workers entered the labour market.

Employment in Alberta rose by 17,000 in September, bringing total gains this year to 30,000 (+1.5%).  This is half the increase seen at same time last year, indicating growth in the oil-state may finally be easing. Whether the easing will turn into something worse is debatable, but with the price of crude oil slumping from close to $150 in July to below $90 this week, the engine driving Alberta’s economy looks set to run out of steam. Despite the new jobs created, a large increase in people looking for work pushed Alberta’s unemployment rate up from 3.5 to 3.8 percent, still the lowest in Canada.

Worries over falling demand for Canada’s oil and mineral resources have now driven the Canadian dollar to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since March 2007. At close of trade on Friday, the Canadian dollar had suffered its biggest one-day slide in nearly 38 years, as slumping commodity prices and fears of a worldwide recession eroded confidence in Canada’s economy.

In Saskatchewan, employment was up by 7,700 in September,  a similar increase to August’s. The unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 4.1%. So far this year, employment has grown by 2.9%, the fastest rate of growth of any province. Increases over this period occurred mainly in construction; health care and social assistance; and natural resources.

Employment also increased in Nova Scotia in September, up 4,900, bringing the employment rate back to its record high of 59.3%.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, employment edged down 2,700 in September, leaving employment in the province down slightly from the level at the end of 2007.

Employment prospects seem set to worsen as the Bank of Canada reports lending to businesses is falling and that a record number of employers are reporting tighter credit conditions – indicating they will have trouble growing their businesses as easily as they have in recent years.

11 Oct 2008