'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Canada's labour market shook off more of the shock from COVID-19 by adding 153,700 jobs in November, pushing the unemployment rate to a pandemic-era low and sending the share of the core working population with a job to an all-time high.
The growth dropped the unemployment rate to six per cent, leaving the headline rate within 0.3 percentage points of the 5.7 per cent recorded in February 2020 just before the pandemic struck.
Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate would have been 7.8 per cent in November had it included Canadians who wanted to work but didn't search for a job, down from 8.7 per cent in October.
Gains were seen across a range of industries and provinces, but didn't take into effect the situation in British Columbia because the jobs survey took place before severe flooding struck.
Driving a drop in unemployment was a plunge of 62,000 in the number of long-term unemployed who have been out of job for six months or more, marking the first monthly drop since August. Statistics Canada said the decline was especially sharp for those out of work for at least 12 months.
Total hours worked also returned to pre-pandemic levels in November.
"So many positive trends tell us that finally, these workers are seeing the light at the end of the COVID tunnel," said Tu Nguyen, an economist with accounting firm RSM Canada.
Gains followed the end of a federal unemployment benefit that some economists suggested may have jump-started job searches. But Kaylie Tiessen, an economist with the Unifor union, said the Canada Recovery Benefit, alongside business subsidies, could be credited for saving jobs by helping impacted households keep their purchasing power.
"Those things together prevented many businesses from collapsing, which meant that people had jobs to go back to as things were opening again," Tiessen said. "Government intervention in times of crisis prevents further economic collapse and also speeds economic recovery."
The share of core-age women ( with a job was the highest since 1976, which could have been helped by more mothers working with schools and daycares open, or finding an affordable childcare space, said Jennifer Robson, associate professor of political management at Carleton University.
Also helping women was growth in jobs needing post-secondary education, which women are more likely to have than men.
Economist Armine Yalnizyan with the Atkinson Foundation said on Twitter that the country hasn't hit a full "she-covery," noting more women than men dropped out of the labour market during the pandemic and aren't necessarily captured in the Statistics Canada data.
With unemployment declining and job vacancies ticking upwards, the statistics office said signs point to new or worsening labour shortages or skill mismatches.
Leah Nord, senior director of workforce strategies for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said shortages won't abate without a meaningful way to connect unemployed workers with available jobs, or enough workers to fill available jobs.
Tightness could further increase wages that on average have increased by 5.2 per cent compared with November 2019, which is close to the inflation rate over that time. Statistics Canada said wages rose faster for new hires than those with jobs during the two-year stretch.
Tanya Gullison, chief revenue officer of consulting firm LHH, said the wage increases will trickle into next year as companies look to hire and retain staff.
Not to be forgotten in the outlook is cloudiness caused by COVID-19.
The emergence of new variants or jumps in case counts could upend any upswing in employment, particularly in high-contact service sectors, said Brendon Bernard, senior economist with job-posting site Indeed.
"Optimism on the public-health front is good for investment, it's good for confidence, and it's a key ingredient that we need to continue to progress," he said.
"Otherwise, these different areas of the economy are sort of left wondering what's next."
Friday's jobs report landed days before the Bank of Canada's next scheduled announcement about its trendsetting policy rate. The central bank is looking for a labour market recovery any rate hike.
Employment last month was about 186,000 above February 2020 levels, and in the estimated range of 110,000 to 270,000 jobs the country would have without the pandemic's effects, once accounting for population growth.
TD senior economist Sri Thanabalasingam said the jobs report, high inflation and a hot housing market may mean the central bank raises rates as early as January.
A quick look at Canada's November employment (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2021.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.