There is some good news in the latest job numbers from Statistics Canada. And it certainly applies to a government town like Ottawa.
Yes, over-all job numbers are down in July compared to June. But most of the loss came from cuts to the public service. Many areas of the private sector actually gained jobs.
Small consolation if you are the public servant being let go. But in the greater scheme of things, the trend bodes well for Canada’s still-recovering economy.
The trend was especially evident in Ottawa, where public service job losses were actually off-set to the tune of a net gain of 1700 jobs.
"That's a great sign,” says BMO Investments Manager Larry Moser. "We're becoming less of a just government town and we're seeing new sectors open up which is going to be greatly positive for us down the line."
Gains were achieved in manufacturing and what Statistics Canada calls “building, business and support services.” The CMHC reports housing starts in Ottawa were up in July. And John Devries, President of the Ottawa Construction Association, says “The situation is pretty good. We've had really good numbers the last few years. We had a record year last year. This year we seem to be on pace for the same number as last year. " Devries does caution, however, that the end of federally-funded economic stimulus projects will likely tighten the market somewhat.
Ottawa’s hi-tech sector also seems to be making a strong comeback. Harley Finkelstein is with the booming Ottawa-based e-commerce company, Shopify. “There seems to be a bit of a renaissance, a technology renaissance happening here in Ottawa. A lot of great companies are starting here and a lot of great companies are growing and scaling here," he says.
It’s a silver lining in an otherwise disappointing monthly jobs report. But Larry Moser cautions that month-to-month fluctuations don’t tell the whole story. In the long-term, Canada’s economy is still moving in the right direction. "The unemployment rate really hasn't changed at 7.2 percent year over year. And overall we've seen 1.2 percent total job growth. So really we have a modestly growing economic environment."
