Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’d like to leave you with some good news before a Thanksgiving long weekend.  After a troubling third quarter with difficulties in Europe filling the headlines of the business section, reports from Canada and the Unites States have shown positive news today with increases in jobs.

From the Globe & Mail:

The Canadian economy churned out 60,900 jobs last month, quadruple expectations, all in full-time positions.

The country's jobless rate fell two notches to 7.1 per cent – its lowest level since December, 2008, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The report comes after two months of little job growth and is a stark contrast to labour market woes in other countries, particularly the United States. Canada has created 294,000 positions so far this year, mostly in Ontario and Alberta. Full-time employment growth has swelled by 344,000, outweighing a decline in part-time positions.

Similarly, the US saw positive job growth (from the Financial Post):

WASHINGTON — U.S. job creation accelerated more than expected in September, easing the risk of a new recession, although the economy still created too few positions to heal the labour market much.

The U.S. economy generated 103,000 new jobs last month, beating Wall Street’s low expectations for 60,000 jobs.

The pace of hiring improved substantially from August, when the spending battle in Congress nearly left the government unable to pay its bills, damaging consumer and business sentiment. The stronger-than-expected reading for September suggests the political fight may have only temporarily damaged hiring.

Optimism needs to be tempered slightly as some of the jobs created are from normal increases in hiring in the fall.  However, analysts and economists projections, both in the US and Canada were largely surpassed which is always good news.

Please have a great weekend and a happy Thanksgiving.

Tracey