Nearly 30,000 jobs added in January: StatsCan • Most Canadians expect to be working after age 65: Survey • Payroll earnings up 0.9 per cent in November: StatsCan
Nearly 30,000 jobs added in January: StatsCan
OTTAWA — Canada’s economy gained 29,400 jobs in January, lowering the unemployment rate from 7.2 per cent to seven per cent, Statistics Canada reports. This is a change from last month when the economy lost 45,900 jobs.
Employment was up in transportation and warehousing in January. It was down in business, building and other support services and in public administration. Over the past 12 months, the following industries have been responsible for most growth: professional, scientific and technical services; finance, insurance and real estate and leasing; health care and social assistance; utilities; and natural resources. On a provincial basis, Saskatchewan had the lowest unemployment rate (4.3 per cent) while Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest (12 per cent). In the United States, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the American economy added 113,000 jobs in January, with the unemployment rate going down slightly from 6.7 per cent to 6.6 per cent.
Most Canadians expect to be working after age 65: Survey
TORONTO — More than 50 per cent of Canadians expect to be working at age 66. According to a survey, which Ipsos Reid did for Sun Life Financial in November, 27 per cent of respondents expect to be working full-time at age 66 and 29 per cent plan to be employed part-time. Twenty-eight per cent say they will be retired, while the remainder were not sure or did not think they would still be alive.
The results are similar to last year’s survey, when 26 per cent said they would be working at age 66 and 27 per cent said they would be retired. The numbers are quite different from the 2008 and 2009 surveys, when more than 50 per cent of those polled planned to be retired at 66 and only 16 per cent expected to be working.
For the survey, Ipsos Reid interviewed 3,005 working Canadians between the ages of 30 and 65. The survey found 65 per cent of those who expect to be working would be doing so because they need the money, while 35 per cent will be working because they want to stay in the workforce. The survey also found that although the average expected retirement age is 66, for people close to retirement age (55 to 65), the expected age is 67.
Payroll earnings up 0.9 per cent in November: StatsCan
OTTAWA
— Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $928 in November, up from $918 in October, Statistics Canada reports. On a year-over-year basis, weekly earnings increased 2.5 per cent.
The increase in weekly earnings during the 12 months to November reflected a number of factors, including wage growth, changes in the composition of employment by industry, occupation and level of job experience, as well as average hours worked per week. Non-farm payroll employees worked an average of 32.8 hours a week in November, the same as October, but down from 33.1 hours in the previous November.
Year-over-year earnings of non-farm payroll employees grew in eight provinces, with the most growth in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
