Canada adds an unexpected 37K jobs in January. Will rate cuts be delayed?

globalnews.ca:

jobs in January as the unemployment rate fell for the first time since December 2022.The gains, which were above some analyst expectations, were mostly driven by part-time work, and were well above the 10,000 jobs RBC predicted Canadian employers would add.The bank had also predicted the unemployment rate would rise to 5.9 per cent, up from 5.8 per cent in December. Instead, unemployment came in at 5.7 per cent, down one percentage point from the previous month.Statistics Canada, which released the data Friday, said there were employment gains spread across several industries in the services-producing sector.They were led by wholesale and retail trade (up 1.1 per cent) as well as finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (up 2.1 per cent).

There were declines in other industries, led by accommodation and food services (down 2.7 per cent).Breaking down the data by region, employment increased in Ontario by 0.3 per cent, in Newfoundland and Labrador by 3.2 per cent, in Manitoba up one per cent and in Nova Scotia up 0.7 per cent. It declined in Saskatchewan by one per cent.Hourly wages were also up in January, rising 5.3 per cent on an annualized basis, following a 5.4 per cent gain in December.Compared with January 2023, average hourly wages rose at a faster pace for women (up 6.2 per cent to $32.38) than for men (up 4.4 per cent to $37.06) last month.Wages rose at a similar pace for youth (up 5.5 per cent to $20.79) and core-aged (up 5.4 per cent to $37.41) employees over the same period, while they rose at a slower pace for people aged 55 and older (up 3.7 per cent to $35.72).The Bank of Canada has continued to highlight that average annual wage hikes in the realm of four to five per cent is inconsistent with