Canada added 91,000 jobs in December as unemployment rate fell

Canada's labour market capped the year with some "good news," adding 91,000 jobs in December, shattering economist expectations, though there are still calls for further interest rate cuts amid the threat of U.S. tariffs.

Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday (Jan. 10) said the unemployment rate dipped 0.1 percentage points to 6.7%, also beating expectations. 

"Even though today's data overall was much better than expected, we still have an unemployment rate of 6.7 per cent. That's one per cent higher than we started 2024 at, and that increased slack within the economy is clearly leading into some disinflationary pressures," said CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham.

"I think the best news is that the employment-to-population ratio has gone up, even if we don't believe that employment growth was as strong as the headline suggests."

The report said the country’s employment rate rose for the first time since January of 2023, though it contextualized it against slowing population growth.