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A big reason why economists have been so hesitant to label what the Canadian economy endured over the first half of the year a “recession” — even with that proverbial rule of thumb of GDP contraction for two straight quarters — is because there was no erosion in the employment backdrop.

If Canada does end up being in a recession, it will be the first one ever that did not see the consumer, housing or employment go down for the count.

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There was a 12,000 net increase in jobs in Canada in August (beating market expectations for a 5,000 decline). The average monthly gain so far this year is a not-too-shabby 14,300, while the average over the past 12-months is 16,100.

This growth level is roughly half the pace of the gains we saw earlier in the recovery, but the rate of employment increases is still decent enough to be consistent with a moderate pace of overall economic growth.

The details of the August employment report are also supportive of the view that the Canadian economy is holding up better than the GDP data alone would suggest.