Canada adds jobs in November, central bank not seen changing rates

The Canadian economy added 10,700 jobs in November and the jobless rate fell to 6.8 percent, a performance analysts said was strong enough to ensure the Bank of Canada would keep interest rates unchanged next week. Statistics Canada said on Friday that for the second month in a row, all the gains were in part-time positions, and noted the jobless rate fell because fewer people were seeking work.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had predicted a loss of 20,000 jobs after two months of above-par growth and said the unemployment rate would remain at 7.0 percent. "The fact that overall employment managed another respectable gain and the unemployment rate actually declined for a change is at least mildly encouraging," said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
"We don't believe the Bank of Canada is doing anything with interest rates in the next year, and this wouldn't change that view," he said by phone. The central bank's last fixed date announcement of the year is December 7. The bank, which says the recovery from a shock caused by low oil prices is taking longer than it expected, will look at the jobs data before deciding what to do, Governor Stephen Poloz said on Monday. The bank will maintain its wait-and-see stance for more than a year, according to a Reuters poll released on Thursday.