Relatively relaxed entry conditions for part-time employment
At the end of 2023, the Canadian labor market was literally flat, adding little jobs in December 2023. The labor market is however off to a good start in 2024. The latest data show unemployment reducing to 5.7% in Jan-2024 from 5.8% in Dec-2023, but still higher than 5.0% reported in Jan 2023. The improvement is fueled by part-time jobs, which recorded an accretion of 48.9k jobs which offset the loss of 11.6k full time jobs. This signals two guesses – that there were likely more part time jobs than full time jobs in Jan-2024; and that entry conditions for part time jobs are more relaxed than full time jobs (possibly that employers are demanding more technical skills for full-time jobs).
Average hourly wage growth slowed to 5.3% from 5.7% in Dec-2023, which is a score point for lower inflation from a univariate perspective. This could mean that there is a growing concern about wage affordability by employers, particularly for full-time jobs, where there was a slowdown. The data also showed a marginal dip in participation rate to 65.3% in Jan-2024 from 65.4% in Dec-2023. The BoC would definitely love these numbers, as it provides justification to maintain the current interest rate levels for a while