Little reason for central bank to abandon patient stance
Article content
The Canadian economy added 37,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell to 5.7 per cent, according to figures released Feb. 9 by Statistics Canada. While that beat expectations of a 15,000-job gain, the picture wasn’t all rosy. Here’s what economists had to say about the report.
Douglas Porter, Bank of Montreal
Article content
“Beyond the shiny headlines, the details were underwhelming,” Douglas Porter, chief economist and managing director of economics at the Bank of Montreal, wrote in a note to clients following the release of the data. Porter noted that while the drop in the unemployment rate was a surprise, it had more to do with a declining participation rate than the increase in jobs, most of which came in the part time and/or public service categories. Nevertheless, the report was strong enough to keep the Bank of Canada on pause.
Advertisement 2
