CANADA: SOLID HIRING CONTINUED IN MARCH

Data released on Thursday showed the Canadian economy added 35,000 jobs in March, surpassing expectations. Despite the strong numbers, the Bank of Canada (BoC) is expected to keep rates unchanged next week. Analysts at CIBC see the BoC on hold for the rest of the year before allowing rate cuts starting early in 2024. 

“The solid hiring to start 2023 continued in March, with a 35K increase in employment easily outstripping consensus forecasts for a modest 7.5K gain. However, job gains were narrower by sector than they had been in prior months, with the overall increase driven by strong hiring in only three areas (transportation, business services and finance).”

“Other sectors of the economy either saw little change in employment or outright declines, and as such today's data are not quite as strong as they first appear. Still, the continued hiring, combined with low unemployment rate and strong wage inflation, will likely see the Bank of Canada maintain a hiking bias as it holds rates steady next week, and not hint at the cuts that have been priced into markets.”