Statistics Canada reported this morning that employment in Canada increased by nearly 80,000 jobs in November, considerably better than market expectations of a 15,000 job increase. This helped lower the unemployment rate from 8.6% to 8.5%.Today’s numbers confirm that Canada’s Economic Action Plan is having a positive impact on creating and maintaining jobs.
By comparison, the United States lost 11,000 jobs in November. This is the 23rd straight month of job losses in the U.S. For the first time in a generation, the U.S. unemployment rate is nearly 2 percentage points higher than Canada’s.
Canada is weathering the current global economic challenges better than nearly every other industrialized country, and Our Government’s economic stewardship is the envy of the world.
Yet despite these positives, the global economic recovery remains fragile and tentative. As Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said, the Canadian economy is recovering, but has not yet fully recovered. While Canada’s economic growth has stabilized, we may yet see more job losses before we fully turn the corner.
Our Government is committed to staying on course and protecting our economy by fully implementing Canada’s Economic Action Plan. We will remain focussed on the economy and on helping Canadians.
