The Canadian economy generated 9,300 new jobs in December while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.6 percent, a 42-year low, the national statistics institute said Friday. "Employment held steady in December," Statistics Canada said in a statement. That followed 94,000 net hires in November.
The 5.6 percent unemployment rate is the lowest since 1976 when comparable data were first kept. In December, jobs were created in the manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and health and social assistance sectors, while the retail and public administration saw job losses.
The positive data nevertheless contained signs of weakness in the Canadian economy, with economist noting that all new job growth was attributable to self-employment, and that there were fewer full-time jobs than the month before.