08:49 AM EST, 01/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian employment was much stronger than expected in December, with a 91,000 gain in jobs and a slight tick down in the unemployment rate, noted CIBC following Friday's Labour Force Survey (LFS) data.

The increase in employment was reasonably broad-based by industry, led by education, transportation and finance, said the bank.

Full-time positions increased by 57,000, with part-time jobs up by 33,000. Population growth remained swifter than what CIBC has seen recently in the quarterly count, which may have flattered some of the headline figures slightly if the LFS is still playing catch up.

That said, the increase in employment was still strong enough to see the jobless rate tick down to 6.7%, against consensus expectations for an increase to 6.9%, stated the bank.

Despite the strong employment gain and slight decline in the unemployment rate, wage growth for permanent employees continued to decelerate, reaching 3.7% year over year, from 3.9% in the prior month.

Overall, Friday's report is better than anticipated, although the unemployment rate is still elevated and indicative of slack within the economy, and we still see the need for further interest rate cuts to fully reduce that excess capacity, added CIBC.