Statistics Canada identifies 'human error' in July jobs report

Statistics Canada has identified the error in its July employment numbers, as federal officials sayno new employment insurance claims are beingprocessed as theywaitfor the corrected data to be released.

SylvieMichaud, directorof the agency's general, education, labour and income statistics branch, saidStatistics Canada has been able to determine where the error occurred, but is waiting until Friday to release new data to allow time toadjust packaging of the report.

"We've been able to localize where it was in the process.This was a human error. There was something that should have been caught, that was not caught," she said.

• Statistics Canada retracts July jobs report because of 'error'
• Unemployment dips to 7%, most new jobs are part time

Kathleen Martin, a spokeswoman forEmployment and Social Development Canada, confirmed that no one has received EI benefits based on the incorrect data from Statistics Canada,given the two-week waiting period for employment insurance.

The correction will have no effect onthe delivery and processing times of EI claims.

This is as bad as it gets.Philip Cross,former chief economic analyst forStatistics Canada

Philip Cross, former chief economic analyst forStatistics Canada, saidhe thinks the delay inreleasing the new employment data reflectsthe nature of the error.

"This is as bad as it gets.There is no cost, at this point, in waiting forFriday, because the damage has been done," he said.

Cross saidhe thinks the error was likely theemployment number,consideringthatStatistics Canada is delaying the release of the corrected datauntil Friday.Given thepotential effect it could have on the economy if the new datawere incorrect, the agency can't afford to get it wrong again, he said.

"They don't want to have any impact on the markets. The only number that would impact markets is the employment," he said.

The NDPblamed the Conservatives' cuts to Statistics Canada for the error.

Conservative cuts are taking a toll on Statistics Canadas ability to provide reliable data, said NDPindustry critic Peggy Nash in a statement.Weve already seen many surveys scrapped and data quality diminished with serious impacts on the ability of government to deliver services across the board.

But Cross said that cuts to the agency would likely not have had any effect on the labour force survey, sincethat divisionhas mostly gone untouched.

"When Stats Can cut back they were made in things like agriculture statistics. It's really quite banal, when you look at the cuts they've made, they were made in the less important areas," he said.

"They didn't cut from labour force survey at all, because if you make a mistakewith livestock stats or railway statistics, you're not going to be front page news. It's a whole different thing to make a mistake in employment numbers."