Employment dips with slower home starts

November 20, 2018

Construction employment shed 1,800 jobs in October, retail trade, transportation and utilities lost 14,700 positions and a further 600 jobs disappeared in the finance and real estate sectors, according to the ADP Canada National Employment Report.
Nationally, employment in Canada decreased by 23,000 jobs from September to October.
A clue to the loss of jobs in key industries is in Canadian housing starts which fell to the lowest level in almost two years in September, though a mild rally was seen in October. Canada’s housing market has slowed this year, hindered by rising mortgage rates and tougher qualification rules.
Starts are forecast to slow this year to 214,000 units, and again to 197,000 units in 2019, from a peak of 226,000 in 2017, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
At the 2017 housing start pace, an estimated 539,000 jobs are created and sustained across Canada, reports the Canadian Home Builders Association.