Instant View: Canada adds 79,500 jobs in Nov, unemployment rate falls to 5.9 percent

The Canadian economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.7 percent in the third quarter on the strength of household final consumption expenditure, official government data showed.

LINKS:

LINKS:)

STORIES:

Market reaction: CAD/

Web: http://www.statcan.ca/start.html

COMMENTARY:

MICHAEL DOLEGA, SENIOR ECONOMIST AT TORONTO-DOMINION BANK

"The jobs numbers were quite surprising to the upside in terms of our expectations. It's a pretty phenomenal number as far as the Canadian economy is concerned at this point."

"It seems that confidence is actually quite good, despite the Bank of Canada raising rates and despite NAFTA negotiations dragging on. There's a lot of uncertainty related to NAFTA obviously but it's not showing up in the numbers, and particularly what struck me was the manufacturing print on jobs, the sector added over 20,000 jobs which is quite incredible considering the fact that there is so much uncertainty surrounding the economy and particularly that export-sensitive sector that is so dependant on U.S. demand and access to U.S. markets."

"(The GDP numbers were) more or less on par with what we were thinking, maybe a touch above, but certainty not to the same extent that the employment numbers surprised."

"Especially with wage growth picking up even more and unemployment dropping to 5.9 (percent) it certainly firms the idea that there are more near-term hikes than previously anticipated. We are looking at potentially earlier than before. We're thinking about putting in the Q1 call (for a Bank of Canada hike) at this point."

SAL GUATIERI, SENIOR ECONOMIST AT BMO CAPITAL MARKETS:

"This was another barn burner of a jobs report for Canada... For Bank of Canada, this certainly means the economy is doing quite well and pumping out a lot of jobs, the risks of rising inflation are increasing, given the low jobless rate and wage growth is picking up.

"The tone of their statement (from their meeting on Dec. 6) could be a little more upbeat, perhaps a little less cautious, suggesting the bank needs to raise interest rates in the new year. We believe the bank will hold off until March because inflation is quite low, there are still risks out there, especially relating to trade.

"The GDP numbers were a modest payback from the exceptional run of activity we’ve been seeing in the previous year."

DEREK HOLT, VP & HEAD OF CAPITAL MARKETS ECONOMICS AT SCOTIABANK

"Very strong data, the labor miracle in Canada continues. The wage numbers were also bullish. I think the broad takeaway is the wage and price cycle continues to turn more hawkish."

(Reporting by Fergal Smith, Nichola Saminather and Alastair Sharp; Editing by Denny Thomas)