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There was a ton of excitement over the 56,000 Canadian jobs run-up in February, but the closer you examine the data, the less impressive it becomes.

All the employment in this country is coming out of two sectors — government and the high-tech sector. Goods-producing employment has declined 23,000 year-to-date and is little higher today than it was in November 2017.

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And that 56,000 headline number actually turns to a 131,000 decline once the 0.7 per cent shrinkage in hours worked is taken into account. In fact, this was the third straight decline in the hours worked in a row and, over this time, the workweek has dropped at a 4.2 per cent annual rate, something we have not seen happen since May 2009.