The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that December's job numbers were virtually unchanged from the month before. The Post's Gigi Suhanic quotes Douglas Porter at BMO Economics saying in a note Friday: "Today's sluggish results suggest that the softening seen in the broader economy is finally catching up with the job market. Prior to December, employment gains had remained amazingly sturdy in the face of paltry GDP growth (at the expense of sickly productivity). That may now be shifting. If so, this would suggest that the jobless rate is almost certain to head higher, pushing above six per cent in coming months. In turn, that should eventually take some steam out of wage gains. For the Bank of Canada, the sticky wage strength, combined with the solid U.S. payroll results today, will more than offset the sluggish domestic job tally. We continue to expect the Bank to be very patient on the rate cutting front." Meanwhile, Andrew Grantham at CIBC says, "While a further decline in the employment rate is evidence that the labour market continues to weaken, the decline in participation and acceleration in wage growth suggests that it isn't loose enough for the Bank of Canada to cut interest rates quite yet."