Canada’s unemployment drops to 6.3%, the lowest level since 2008

Canadian unemployment has dropped to just 6.3%, the strongest performance for nine years as the country’s labour market continues to excel.

A total of 387,600 jobs were added last year, the greatest annual gain since 2007.

The country’s improving employment has seen the central bank hike interest rates to 0.75% in an attempt to check continual growth, with Chief Economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Avery Shenfield expecting another rise being needed before the years end to prevent the economy from running out of slack.

"The wider trade deficit might be seen as a slight negative for the (Canadian dollar), but the tight jobless rate will keep chatter alive about an October rate hike.''

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Encouragingly, of the 387,600 new jobs added, 354,000 came in the form of full time positions.

Such statistics will give confidence to the economy, even in the wake of the Canadian dollar falling 0.3% against its US counterpart, and a $2.2bn increase in Canada’s trade deficit, largely down to a 4.3% fall in exports.