The much anticipated job numbers are out in the U.S. and Canada.
In the U.S., non-farm payrolls were up by 96,000 in August – a disappointing increase that is seen as confirmation of the sluggish recovery in the States. July’s figure was also reduced to 141,000 from 163,000. The unemployment rate did decline but remains at a stubbornly high 8.1%. The Fed wants to see it closer to 5.5% and, once again, there’s speculation this could be the piece of data that gets the stimulus started. That speculation and yesterday’s announcement of a bond-buying program by the European Central Bank have the bulls running on the equity markets.
The Canadian economy added more than 34,000 jobs in August, significantly beating expectations and reversing a surprise drop in July. Most of the jobs are part-time. Employers shed more than 12,000 full-time jobs in August. The unemployment rate remains at 7.3%.
And the value of Canadian building permits issued in July dropped 2.3%. Ontario led the decline and residential and non-residential fell by roughly equal amounts.
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