Unemployment rate eases to 7.4 per cent as job surge continues (Canada)

[TrogL]

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/09/jobs090104

Canada's unemployment rate edged down by a tenth of a percentage point to 7.4 per cent in December as the economy churned out another 53,000 jobs – more than twice the number economists had been expecting.

...

Statistics Canada said most of December's new jobs were full-time and most were in the private sector – both considered healthy signs.

...

And the Canadian dollar did continue its rise, trading at 78.47 cents US just before 10 a.m. EST. That was up 0.38 cents from Thursday's close.

A linked articled noted "U.S. job creation far below expectations"

[Yavin4]

1. How Can A Country With Socialized Medicine Out Perform Us

This can't be true! Neo-Con America must invade Canada! Now! We can't have a country with a strong social safety net beat us!

[RDANGELO]

2. yea figure that

A country being run by a bunch of liberals.

[Flightful]

3. So let me get this straight-

7.4% jobless here==good times
5.7% jobless in USA==catastrophe

[Screaming Lord Byron]

4. Canada has notoriously high structural unemployment

even at the best of times, it's stubbornly high.

[HootieMcBoob]

5. you know it's higher than 5.7% right?

that only counts the people on the unemployment rolls. There are plenty more, myself included, who have used up all the unemployment and still don't have a job. We aren't counted. I've gone back to school since. Right now I have no health insurance and am using my entire life savings to pay for school. I bet those 1000 jobs were all bull shit wal mart jobs.

How can a country with no where near the population that we have create 53,000 jobs and we only do 1000? Plus they have a trade surplus!

[treepig]

6. the deal is, canadians are less lazy

more of them want to work, as evidenced by their 67.7 labor participation rate (read the sidebar with the story in the original post). by contrast, the participation rate is only 62.2 in the usa.

so let's look at the employement rates:

canada: 67.7 - 7.4 = 60.3 %
usa: 62.2 - 5.7 = 56.5 %

so, in canada, almost 4% more people are gainfully employed - so yeah, that'd probably qualify as (relatively) "good times"