Canada Adds More Jobs Than Expected In September
Canadian employment grew in September for the first time in four months, but gains remained moderate in a sign the labor market continues to be near full capacity.
The country added 21,000 jobs last month, with both full-time and part-time work holding steady, Statistics Canada reported on Friday in Ottawa. Thats in line with the median estimate of a 20,000 gain anticipated by economists in a Bloomberg survey.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.2 per cent as the labor force shrank, reversing part of a 0.5 percentage point jump to 5.4 per cent in August. Hours worked fell 0.6 per cent in September.
The two-year benchmark yield on Canada bonds rose slightly on the release to 4.036 per cent as of 8:42 a.m. Ottawa time. Earlier Friday, it had passed 4 per cent for the first time since 2007.
The rise in employment ended three consecutive months of losses from June through August, during which the economy shed more than 113,000 jobs.
The question now is how much of the slowdown is being driven by labor supply factors and how much by higher borrowing costs and weakness in underlying demand. The mix is important to the Bank of Canada, which has been tightening policy aggressively amid worries that demand for labor has far outpaced supply.
Employment Little Changed In September
After dropping in August, employment was little changed in September, with both full-time and part-time work holding steady.
Employment declined for a second consecutive month among young women aged 15 to 24, but increased among male youth and core-aged women in September.
Gains in educational services and health care and social assistance were offset by losses in manufacturing information, culture and recreation transportation and warehousing and public administration.
The number of employees in the public sector rose in September, partially offsetting declines recorded in July and August. Employment was little changed among employees in the private sector and among self-employed workers.
Employment increased in four provinces, led by British Columbia, while there were fewer people working in Ontario and Prince Edward Island.
Year-over-year wage growth remained above 5% for a fourth consecutive month, with the average hourly wages of employees rising 5.2% compared with September 2021 .
Total hours worked were down 0.6% in September. Despite declining by 1.1% since June, total hours worked were up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Quarterly Update For The Territories
Following gains in the first quarter of 2022 and little change in the second quarter, employment in the Northwest Territories fell by 600 in the third quarter. At 4.3%, the unemployment rate was little changed in the three months ending in September.
Employment in Yukon held steady in the third quarter after an increase in the second quarter, and the unemployment rate remained at 2.5%.
Employment in Nunavut held steady in the third quarter and the employment rate was 55.4%. The unemployment rate was 12.0% in the three months ending in September, little changed from the second quarter .
Read Also: Do Employees Pay Into Unemployment
Fewer Canadians In Unemployment For 27 Weeks Or More
Long-term unemploymentthe number of people who had been continuously unemployed for 27 weeks or moredeclined by 18,000 in September, offsetting the increase in August . Long-term unemployment first returned to its February 2020 level in June 2022 and has hovered around a similar level in recent months. Long-term unemployment expressed as a proportion of the total labour force was 0.8% in September, slightly lower than what it was before the pandemic in February 2020 .
Bank Of Canadas Tiff Macklem Says Overheating Labour Market Must Cool To Fight Inflation
Workers at an Ellis Don construction site in Toronto. Higher interest rates are starting to slow interest-rate-sensitive sectors of the economy, such as construction and manufacturing.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem says unemployment needs to rise in order to slow down inflation, although he is not expecting joblessness to increase as sharply as it did in previous recessions.
In a Thursday speech in Toronto, Mr. Macklem said Canadas labour market is overheating, with businesses struggling to find workers and unemployment near a record low. This is feeding through into inflation, as companies bid up wages to compete for employees.
We need to rebalance the labour market, Mr. Macklem said. This will be a difficult adjustment. We want to do this in the best way possible for Canadian workers and businesses.
He made his comments after a blowout jobs report last Friday. Employment in Canada jumped by 108,000 in October, recouping all of the jobs lost during the summer slowdown, while the rate of unemployment remained steady at 5.2 per cent.
The strength of the labour market is a challenge for the central bank. Mr. Macklem and his team are actively trying to slow down Canadas economy, rapidly increasing interest rates with the goal of curbing demand for goods and services and slowing down price increases.
The Canadian Press
Also Check: What Is The Unemployment Rate Now
Canada Sheds Jobs For Third Month Unemployment Rate Jumps To 54%
Canadian employment levels unexpectedly fell for a third straight month in August and the jobless rate jumped, a potential signal interest-rate hikes have started to cool the tight labour market.
The economy shed 39,700 jobs last month, Statistics Canada reported on Friday in Ottawa, a surprise negative reading compared to the 15,000 gain anticipated by economists in a Bloomberg survey.
The jobless rate rose to 5.4 per cent from record lows of 4.9 per cent in June and July due to the biggest increase in the number of unemployed since strict COVID measures were imposed in January.
The decrease in employment and higher jobless rate may be evidence the countrys labour force is re-balancing as the Bank of Canadas aggressive rate hikes start to cool economic growth and slow demand. The additional job searchers may likewise ease wage growth as the labour supply expands.
The Canadian dollars gain weakened slightly after the news, trading up 0.5 per cent to US$1.303 at 8:40 a.m. in Toronto after earlier climbing as much as 0.8 per cent. Yields on Canadian 10-year bonds extended declines, falling 9.6 basis points to 3.1 per cent.
The average hourly wage rate was up 5.4 per cent from a year ago, compared with 5.2 per cent in both June and July. Thats the fastest increase in records dating to 1997, outside of the pandemic.
Hours worked were unchanged in August, following a decline of 0.5 per cent in July.
Related
Fewer People Worked From Home In September
The proportion of workers who report that they usually work exclusively at home fell slightly from 16.8% in August to 16.3% in September. The share of workers with hybrid arrangementsthat is, who usually work both at home and in a location other than homewas unchanged in September, at 8.6% .
While there was little change in the indicators of usual work location, two measures of where people worked during the Labour Force Survey reference weekregardless of their usual arrangementsuggest that workers and employers may be continuing to adapt and adjust where work is done. First, the proportion of employed Canadians who worked exclusively at home during the LFS reference week was lower in September than in August . Second, the proportion of workers who worked a mix of hours at home and elsewhere increased 0.9 percentage points to 20.5% over that same period .
Don’t Miss: How To Unlock My Unemployment Account
Canadian Employment Surges In October
- Employment blew away expectations in October, as the Canadian labour market added a meaty 108k positions in October. As such, job losses recorded over the past few months were more than recouped.
- All of October’s gain was in full-time work, which jumped by 119k positions. There was little change in the number of part-time positions. Meanwhile, the private sector did the bulk of the hiring .
- Even with the robust jobs gain, the unemployment rate held steady at 5.2%, as the labour force climbed by 110k and the participation rate edged up 0.2 ppts to 64.9%.
- On a geographic basis, six provinces recorded gains, with the bulk of the hiring concentrated in Ontario and Quebec .
- Lastly, total hours worked jumped 0.7% m/m, while average hourly earnings were up 5.6% year-on-year, marking an acceleration from September’s 5.2% pace.
Unemployment And Visible Minorities
As defined by the Employment Equity Act, Statistics Canada defines visible minoritiesas persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour. Though visible minorities in Canada participated in the labour force at a rate higher than non-visible minorities, 9.2 per cent of visible minorities were unemployed in 2016, compared to 7.3 per cent of non-visible minority Canadians. Arab Canadians hadan 85 per cent higher unemployment rate and Black Canadians a 71 per cent higher rate than Canadians not classified as visible minorities gaps in unemployment that were consistent with 2006 census results. In 2016, visible minority women had the highest unemployment rate, at 9.6 per cent. While non-visible minority women had a lower unemployment rate than non-visible minoritymen, unemployment among visible minority women was higher than among visible minority men .
Read Also: How To Claim Unemployment Online
Canadas Unemployment Rate One Of The Lowest In The World
Wage growth continues to accelerate as a huge number of Canadians leave the labor field.
Last month, the Canadian labor market showed symptoms of extraordinary tightness, with the unemployment rate falling to a record low, pay gains increasing, and substantial numbers of Canadians dropping out of the labor field.
In July, Canada’s unemployment rate remained stable at 4.9%, matching the previous month’s record low. The total number of unemployed people remained stable at one million. Furthermore, 426,000 persons sought a job but did not look for one, and thus did not fulfill the definition of unemployed. This remained unchanged for the sixth month in a row. The adjusted unemployment rate stayed at 6.8%, the lowest since comparable statistics began available in 1997.
Furthermore, employment in Canada fell by 31,000 jobs, which, according to Statistics Canada, is not a major change. From May to July, Canada lost approximately 74,000 jobs, while employment surged by more than one million from May 2021 to May 2022.
Nonetheless, July is Canada’s second consecutive month of reduced employment. Furthermore, Canada’s record-low unemployment rate, combined with more than one million job openings, indicates that the labor market remains tight.
After declining by 59,000 in June, the number of self-employed workers rose by 34,000 in July. Despite this rise, self-employment was still 214,000 below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level and was flat year over year.
Employment Gains In Educational Services And Health Care And Social Assistance Offset By Drop In Manufacturing
The number of people working in educational services rose by 46,000 in September, largely offsetting the decline of 50,000 recorded in August. Increases in this industry were observed in six provinces, led by Ontario and British Columbia . On a year-over-year basis, employment in the industry was little changed.
There was also a rise in the number of people working in health care and social assistance in September, the first increase in seven months. According to the latest results from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, there were 143,000 vacant positions in health care and social assistance in July 2022, little changed from the record high observed in March 2022 . While employment in the industry was up by 48,000 on a year-over-year basis in September, total hours worked were little changed compared with September 2021. At the same time, the proportion of workers in the industry who were absent due to illness or disability for at least part of the week was up by 1.1 percentage points on a year-over-year basis, to 8.2% .
The number of people working in manufacturing decreased by 28,000 in September, bringing employment in the industry back down to the level last recorded in May 2022. The majority of the decline occurred in Ontario , followed by British Columbia . According to the latest data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing, manufacturing sales decreased for a third consecutive month in July.
Don’t Miss: Does Filing For Unemployment Hurt Your Credit
Employment Decreases Among Young Women Little Changed For Older Workers
Employment among youth aged 15 to 24 fell by 26,000 in September. The decrease was driven by young women , who saw employment declines for a second consecutive month.
After remaining virtually unchanged since February 2022, employment rose by 14,000 for young men in September, driven primarily by those aged 20 to 24.
Among Canadians aged 55 and older, both total employment and the employment rate were little changed for a third consecutive month.
Chart 5 Employment Up Year Over Year In All Provinces
Employment in British Columbia increased by 33,000 in September, offsetting a decrease of 28,000 in August. The unemployment rate declined to 4.3% . Employment gains in September were led by the educational services, and the professional, scientific, and technical services industries. In the Vancouver census metropolitan area , employment increased by 28,000 and the unemployment rate was 3.9%.
In Manitoba, employment increased by 6,900 in September, partly offsetting a decline of 10,000 in August. The unemployment rate fell 0.8 percentage points to 4.5%. The Winnipeg CMA saw little change in employment, while the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 4.6% .
Following a decline in July and little change in August, employment decreased by 32,000 in Ontario in September. With fewer people participating in the labour force, the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.8%. Industries with employment losses included manufacturing professional, scientific and technical services and wholesale and retail trade. In contrast, more Ontarians were employed in educational and in business, building and other support services.
In the Toronto CMA, employment decreased by 66,000 in September and the unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 6.3%. On a three-month moving average basis, the unemployment rate ranged from a high of 8.6% in the CMA of Windsor to a low of 3.9% in the Guelph CMA.
Read Also: What Is The Latest News On Unemployment
Labour Force Shrinks Over The Summer Of 2022
The supply of labour has been a particularly important aspect of the labour market over the past year, in the context of record-high job vacancies earlier in 2022, as well as the longer-term issue of population aging. While elevated job vacancies continued until at least July, both the total size of the labour forceor the number of people who are either employed or unemployedas well as the participation rate have trended downwards since May. Specifically, the total labour force was down by 79,000 compared with May, although it was little changed on a monthly basis in September. The labour force participation rate edged down by 0.1 percentage points from August to 64.7% in September, and was 0.6 percentage points lower than in May.
Among young women aged 15 to 24, the participation rate declined 2.1 percentage points to 63.1% in September, falling below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level for the first time since June 2021. The participation rate among male youth was little changed for a second consecutive month in September and remained on par with its pre-pandemic level.
Among women aged 25 to 54, the participation rate was up 0.4 percentage points in September to 84.8%, on par with the record high of 85.0% seen in May 2022. Among core-aged men, the participation rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 91.4% in September, continuing a downward trend from its recent peak of 92.3% recorded in March 2022.
Unemployment Rate Down Among Core
For women, the unemployment rate fell for those aged 55 and older and those aged 25 to 54 in September. The unemployment rate among female youth aged 15 to 24 was little changed for a second consecutive month.
The unemployment rate was little changed among men in each of the major age groups in September. Among both male youth and core-aged men , the rate held steady after increasing in August. Among men aged 55 and older, the rate was little changed for a fourth consecutive month.
In September, the unemployment rate ranged from 4.2% among Japanese Canadians to 9.8% among West Asian Canadians and 10.7% among Latin American Canadians .
You May Like: Unemployment Tax Break How Much Will I Get
Information Released Monthly Starting In September
Five new questions were added to the LFS in March 2020 and have been collected monthly since then. The topics of the questions are: number of jobs held by multiple job holders, earnings of self-employed, employment benefits, main activity of people not in the labour force, and workers working by necessity or choice among people aged 60 and older. Results for these five questions are now available monthly starting in March 2020.
Getting More People Interested In The Trades
Workforce Windsor Essex is partnered with the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario to provide a hands-on skills, 12-week course for adults with at least a Grade 12 diploma. The Tomorrow’s Trades program is run in different cities in Ontario with provincial funding.
The participants get a taste of various construction trades such as masonry, carpentry and welding and then if they show they have ability in one of the trades they like, they can get into an apprenticeship program with one of the trade unions such as LiUNA.
“I actually enjoy the stonework, so I actually want to get into the masonry part of it,” said Sherry Marshall, who got into the program because she was tired of her low-paying, dead-end job.
She along with 11 other participants were learning how to build brick and stone walls at a masonry academy at the former St. Anne’s high school in Tecumseh Wednesday.
“Every trade is booming right now. That’s all we’ve heard is that we can’t get people fast enough. We need people. So it’s a wonderful opportunity to get hands-on training,” said Erick Morin, who is taking part in the training program.
The trades council is seeking more provincial funding to continue the program next year.
Also Check: How Much Is Va Unemployability Pay
Average Hourly Wages Increase 52% On A Year
Year-over-year growth in the average hourly wages of employees surpassed 5% for a fourth consecutive month in September . In comparison, year-over-year growth in the Consumer Price Index was at, or above, 7.0% from May to August.
Average hourly wages were up in nearly all industries on a year-over-year basis in September, including in accommodation and food services . In this industry, average wages of employees were up 13.2% in Ontario and 8.1% in Quebec , two provinces where the minimum wage for employees who receive tips was increased in 2022. Average wages in the industry were little changed in Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta on a year-over-year basis .
Gains in average hourly wages are the result of multiple factors, including wage growth and changes in the composition of employment by industry and occupation. In September, wage gains were boosted by year-over year growth in the number of employees in relatively high-paying industries, including construction and professional, scientific and technical services . Average wages were up 7.5% in construction and 9.1% in professional, scientific and technical services in September, with gains in the latter industry exceeding 7% in six provinces .
