The Conference Board’s forward-looking indicator on labour markets suggests job growth will continue to be modest in the upcoming months.
The think tank’s help-wanted index for February shows a mixed climate for job seekers. Prospects appear stronger in the West, but weak throughout much of Ontario.
The index is one of the few forward-looking indicators for jobs in Canada.
It suggests next week’s employment report from Statistics Canada for February will continue to post weak results.
Canada’s jobs market has been largely flat since the summer. January saw only a pick up of 2,300 jobs, well below the 20,000 needed just to keep up with population growth.
The Conference Board’s survey for last month finds activity rising in 11 of the 26 metropolitan areas sampled, falling in 10 and stable in five.
Near-term prospects rose in the Toronto area, in St. John’s and Halifax, and in Regina.
But several Quebec cities registered a decline from the previous month, as did three major job markets in British Columbia.