Labour Force Survey, March 2015, published April 10
Employment in March increased by 28,700 from February. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.8%. Construction employment was down 0.9% from February while manufacturing employment fell by 0.1% from a month earlier. In March, employment stood at 17.9 million, up 0.8% from March 2014. Full-time employment fell by 28,200 from February, while part-time employment increased by 56,800 from the previous month. Full-time employment was up by 110,500 from March 2014, while part-time grew by 27,600 over the same period. Employment over the past year grew in six provinces. Manitoba (+3.1%), ...
Read MoreBuilding Permits, February 2015, published April 9
Municipalities issued $6.1 billion worth of building permits in February, down 0.9% from January and 5.0% lower than in February 2014. Three provinces reported an increase in permits over a year ago. The largest year-over-year gain was recorded in Nova Scotia (+83.4%) followed by Manitoba (+17.9%) and British Columbia (+15.9%). The largest annualized losses occurred in Prince Edward Island (-61.1%) and New Brunswick (-23.7%). Ontario recorded an 11.6% annualized decline, while Quebec’s loss was 3.3%. Builders took out residential building permits worth $4.1 billion in February,...
Read MoreConsumer Price Index, February, 2015, published March 20, (2002=100)
The Consumer Price Index rose by 1.0% in February compared with February 2014, matching the increase in January. The CPI in Febuary for goods was down 0.3% from a year earlier while the CPI for services rose 2.3%. Gasoline prices decreased 21.8% from February 2014, after falling 26.9% in January. Overall, energy prices fell 10.8% between February 2014 and February 2015, following a 12.9% annualized rate of decrease in January. Excluding energy, the annualized Consumer Price Index rose 2.2% in February, down from 2.3% in January. Food prices rose 3.9% in the 12 months to February,...
Read MoreRetail Trade, January 2015, published March 20
Retail sales in January were $41.4 billion, down 1.7% from December but an increase of 1.2% from January 2014. Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers and by gasoline stations, retail sales were up by 3.6% from January 2014. Retail sales in volume terms were down 1.2% from December. Decreases in month-over-month sales were reported in 7 of 11 sectors representing 83% of retail trade. January 2015 sales over January 2014 were up in six provinces. British Columbia led the way with a 4.6% sales gain, followed by Ontario (+3.6%) and Prince Edward Island (+2.2%). The largest...
Read MoreWholesale Trade, January 2015, published March 18
Wholesalers sold $53.7 billion worth of goods and services in January, down 3.1% from December but 7.1% higher than in January 2014. This was the largest month-over-month decline since January 2009. Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 6.6% from January 2014. In terms of volume, wholesale sales were down 3.3% in January from December. Annualized wholesale sales grew in all provinces. Saskatchewan (+15.0%) led the way, followed by Ontario (+8.4%) and Manitoba (+8.3%). Quebec’s wholesale sales were up 4.0% from January 2014. Wholesalers’ inventories in...
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