OTTAWA - The Conference Board of Canada says its help-wanted index suggests the economy might have lost jobs in January.
With new government labour data due out Friday, the private think-tank says its reading of labour markets suggests the economy lost 16,600 jobs last month.
The would be a major reversal of the previous two months, which saw a total of 100,000 jobs created in November and December.
The Conference Board says the forward-looking help-wanted index fell 2.4 points in December.
The board said almost every provincial index posted a decline during the month — Quebec and New Brunswick being the only exceptions.
