Ontario suffers worst employment cut nationwide in August

Last month, the Ontario labor market experienced the worst setback nationwide in terms of employment numbers, losing 80,100 part-time jobs.

This was the province’s largest employment drop since 2009, contributing to fears of even lowered purchasing power in a market already characterized by inflamed prices.

The loss largely contributed to the unexpected loss of 92,000 part-time jobs nationwide in August, Statistics Canada said late last week. This was the second worst month-over-month decline since last decade’s recession, offsetting a 40,400 gain in full-time positions.

National unemployment went up to 6% as a result, compared to July’s 5.8% and exceeding Bloomberg pollsters’ predictions of 5.9%. Meanwhile, wage increases have crawled to their slowest rate this year.

 

A new report by Point2 Homes stated that multiple trends – including weaker purchasing power brought about by unemployment – worked together to pull down the national home ownership rate for the first time in nearly 5 decades.

“The burst of China’s speculative bubble sent shock waves through the global economy… with especially large effects on Canada’s resource-based, export-driven economy,” the report explained.

“The collapse of oil prices and the country’s heavy reliance on exports to its Asian partner pushed Canada into a recession. The ensuing economic deceleration affected wages, hence lowering people’s purchasing power. Home prices, however, kept going up, leading to the decline in homeownership rates revealed by the 2016 StatsCan numbers.”