By MarketsFarm

WINNIPEG, Jan. 10 (MarketsFarm) – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.

– The Canadian economy added 35,200 jobs in December, beating economists’ expectations by over 10,000 jobs. That lowered the unemployment rate from 5.9 per cent to 5.6 per cent. Ontario added the most jobs, totaling 25,000, and 21,000 were added in Quebec. “After two months of woe, Canada’s job figures roared back, making up half of the prior month’s decline in employment and sending the jobless rate back to whence it came,” commented Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets.

– Oil futures are expecting to post their largest weekly loss since July, due to dwindling concerns of a conflict between the United States and Iran. The tensions between the two countries had sparked fears of disruption to the oil supply, but global markets remain “comfortably supplied.” According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude inventories increased by 1.16 million barrels last week, even though market participants expected stocks to decline.

– The U.S. labour market posted meagre payroll gains at the end of 2019, as wages rose at the weakest annual pace since mid-2018. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 145,000 in December, which was slightly below median estimates. While the unemployment rate remains at 3.5 per cent, the lowest in half a century, minimal wage gains indicate that the labour market may not be as tight as some experts think. It’s a real question why wages haven’t accelerated more,” said Jay Bryson, acting chief economist at Wells Fargo & Co, to Bloomberg. “Part of it may be just due to the underlying fact that inflation expectations among folks just remain very very low.” Even so, more broadly, “the labor market remains solid at this point.”

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