Canada: Unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 5.6% in December

"Employment held steady in December and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6%," Statistics Canada reported on Friday.

Key takeaways from the press release

• In the 12 months to December, employment increased by 163,000 (+0.9%), entirely driven by gains in full-time work (+185,000 or +1.2%).
• Over the same period, total hours worked rose 0.9%.
• In 2018, employment increased by 163,000 or 0.9%.
  • This pace of growth was slower compared with 2017 (+2.3%) and 2016 (+1.2%).
• Over the course of the year, the unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 5.6%—the lowest rate since comparable data became available in January 1976.