The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that workers will likely cede more power to employers this year as the labour market continues to cool, but that does not necessarily point to a wave of mass layoffs or even the end of working from home. The Post's Victoria Wells writes that the job market has come off the boil, having steadily weakened throughout 2023 as high interest rates worked their way through the economy and dampened demand. Just 100 jobs were added in December, Statistics Canada said on Jan. 5, capping off a year in which the unemployment rate rose to 5.8 per cent from 5 per cent in January, 2023. The bad news is not over just yet, economists predict, with forecasts for the year-end unemployment rate ranging from 6.6 per cent, according to Royal Bank of Canada, to 6 per cent or more, according to Deloitte Canada. Just how weak the labour market gets depends on the severity of any economic downturn. The good news is that many economists predict Canada could dodge a severe recession, with economic growth staying flat instead of cratering. Such an outcome means the labour market will remain in relatively good shape throughout 2024, said Brendon Bernard, senior economist at jobs site Indeed.