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The bulk of the job gains were made in health care and social assistance, public administration and utilities. Meanwhile, jobs were lost in business, building and other support services.Though conditions in the labour market remain quite good — with unemployment just above the all-time low of 4.9 per cent — Statistics Canada’s latest report showed a return to more modest employment growth.
Signs of that slowdown are already apparent. In the fourth quarter, the Canadian economy was treading water, posting zero per cent growth. The Bank of Canada, which is working to bring down the country’s high inflation rate, has raised concerns that sustained four to five per cent wage growth will make it harder to return to its two per cent inflation target.