Employment Improves in December: Another signal for an interest rate increase?

The latest employment report from Statistics Canada has raised eyebrows and sparked speculation about the future of interest rates in the country. According to the report, employment in Canada increased by 0.5% in December, which is noteworthy because historically, employment tends to decline from November to December due to reduced hiring during the holiday season. In fact, this marks only the second time in the last 20 years that employment has increased from November to December, the first being in 2017. This unexpected positive job growth, coupled with other economic indicators, has many experts wondering if the Bank of Canada will reconsider its pause on interest rates. While it's too early to say for certain, the release of the December CPI numbers could provide some clues about the direction the Bank may take in terms of fighting inflation through interest rate adjustments.