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A weaker labour market could factor into other economic statistics as well. The latest jobs report \u201coffers the first concrete piece of evidence that the Canadian economy likely contracted in December,\u201d said Nikita Perevalov, director of economic forecasting at Bank of Nova Scotia, in a report on Friday.<\/p>\n
And COVID-19\u2019s drag on the economy is poised to have longer-lasting effects.<\/p>\n
The workforce participation rate dipped in December by 0.2 percentage points, to 64.9 per cent. The drop in labour force participation rates was \u201cmostly comprised of male youth and working women, likely frustrated by the job search and staying home to take care of suddenly homebound children, respectively,\u201d according to Leah Nord, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce\u2019s senior director of workforce strategies and inclusive growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe enduring impacts of the increasingly long-term unemployed and workforce drop-outs will cast a long shadow upon the recovery, as re-entry into what will assuredly be a very different labour market presents significant obstacles,\u201d Nord added in a statement.<\/p>\n
A recent report from Royal Bank of Canada\u2019s economics unit found that, between February and October, 20,600 women \u201cfell out\u201d of the country\u2019s workforce. Meanwhile, moves like Ontario\u2019s recent extension of online learning for elementary school students will weigh on working parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis trend of increasing employment that we saw through till November, we wouldn\u2019t expect it to return anytime soon,\u201d Nord said in an interview.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Email: gzochodne@postmedia.com<\/a> | Twitter: GeoffZochodne<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n