The Canadian economy lost 4,300 in December, which left the national unemployment rate unchanged at 6.6 per cent, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey released this morning. You can read the full report here.

This is disappointing to see, as Workopolis had been expecting gains of roughly 15,000 new jobs added. However, when you look back at 2014 as a whole, you can see that the country is still making steady gains.

The economy added nearly 200,000 jobs last year, and more people are working full-time than part-time than they were a year ago. More young people are finding jobs – there are 62,000 more people aged 15-24 working now than there were at this time last year.

This has been the story of the job market since the recession. The economy recovered faster than employment. We’ve seen a steady increase in people working, but it’s been two steps forward, one step back along the way. We’re constantly headed in the right direction, the gains are just slower than we’d like to see.

Workopolis is forecasting this trend to continue for the coming months with continued growth in employment into the spring of 2015. We’re seeing an increase in online job postings in every region of the country right now, and across industries. However, Ontario is trending above the national average, bucking a long-time trend of the hiring momentum being concentrated in the West.

We are keeping our eye on how the drop in oil prices is effecting the overall job market. But it can be a positive overall to have the country’s employment gains diversify rather than being as focused as they have been on one industry in one region.

Here is a detailed look at which job sectors are expected to see the greatest increases in hiring by city across Canada over the next five years.

Peter Harris
– Peter Harris on Twitter

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