09:03 AM EST, 03/03/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canada will release the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for February on Friday, at 8:30 a.m. ET, noted RBC.

It will be the final major data release before the Bank of Canada's March 12 decision on interest rates, pointed out RBC.

The bank expects 15,000 jobs were added in February, a deceleration from January's robust 76,000 gain. This modest growth should keep the unemployment rate steady at 6.6%, unchanged from January.

The Canadian labor market has shown improvement in early 2025 with January posting solid employment gains and a second consecutive monthly drop in the unemployment rate after hitting 6.9% in November.

However, while recent data have been more encouraging, the unemployment rate remains nearly one percentage point higher than a year ago. Uncertainty tied to potential United States trade tariffs rose significantly in late January and early February with both business and consumer confidence measures declining.

Tariff uncertainty alone -- without actual tariff hikes implemented -- won't be enough to fuel layoffs, but it could slow hiring, stated RBC. Job postings on indeed.com edged lower in February after rising in December and January. Not all estimates of recent job growth in Canada have been as strong as the LFS numbers.

Separately reported job counts from Canada's Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) have been lower in recent months, including an outright decline (-5,000) in December, excluding a bounce-back in the transportation sector tied to the end of the Canada Post strike.