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After adding more than 110,000 jobs in the past two months, it is not all that surprising that employment retreated slightly (-10,700) in November and the unemployment rate edged higher to 6.7%, after dropping to a six-year low of 6.6% in October.
One aspect of the recent employment stats which has not received a great deal of attention is the regional pattern of employment which has occurred over the past twelve months as well as the shiftin provincial job growth.
Turning first to the major regions, despite a gradual decline in energy prices since mid-year, the vast majority of the 150,000 jobs added in Canada over the past twelve months have been west of the Ontario/Manitoba border. Nearly 40% were in Central Canada while employment in the Atlantic Provinces contracted slightly (- 6,500).
Although the regional pattern...