Overall employment was virtually unchanged in May (-17,000; -0.1 per cent) as employment growth has moderated in recent months and monthly increases have averaged 33,000 from February to April. This followed strong employment gains totalling 326,000 from September 2022 to January 2023, reported Statistics Canada on Friday.
Edmond Dantès
The federal agency said the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 5.2 per cent—the first increase since August 2022.
It said employment fell by 77,000 (-2.8 per cent) for youth aged 15 to 24, and it increased by 63,000 (+0.5 per cent) among people aged 25 to 54.
“Total hours worked fell 0.4 per centin May, but were up 2.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis. On a year-over-year basis, average hourly wages rose 5.1 per cent (+$1.61 to $33.25) in May (not seasonally adjusted),” said StatsCan.
It said the employment rate—the percentage of people aged 15 and older who are employed—declined by 0.3 percentage points to 62.1 per cent in May. This reflected strong population growth in the month (+83,000) and little change in employment.
And the number of employees held steady in the private and public sector, while there was a decline in the number of self-employed workers (-40,000; -1.5. per cent).
“After holding steady at 5.0 per cent for five consecutive months from December 2022 to April 2023, the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 5.2 per cent in May. This was the first monthly increase since August 2022,” said the report.
“The youth unemployment rate was 10.7 per cent in May, up 1.1 percentage points from April, and the highest rate since October 2022 (10.9 per cent). Among people aged 55 and older, the unemployment rate edged up 0.2 percentage points to 4.1 per cent in May, partly offsetting a 0.4 percentage point decline in April. The unemployment rate for those in the core working age (25 to 54) was 4.3 per cent in May, unchanged in the month and on a year-over-year basis.
“The participation rate—the proportion of the population who is employed or unemployed—was down 0.1 percentage points to 65.5 per cent in May. This mostly reflected a decline in the participation rate for youth aged 15 to 24, which dropped 1.4 percentage points to 64.5 per cent in May, a rate comparable to that of September 2022 (64.3 per cent).”
The federal agency said 10 per cent of workers had a hybrid work arrangement—that is, they usually worked partly at home and partly in locations other than home. This was little changed from the proportion recorded in December 2022 (9.6 per cent)—the last time the data were collected—but up 3.7 percentage points compared with May 2022.
Andrew Grantham
“Some cracks appeared within the Canadian labour market in May, but these may not yet be wide enough to convince the Bank of Canada that inflation is about to meaningfully cool off. Employment fell by 17K (consensus +21K), which led to a two-tick increase in the unemployment rate to 5.2 per cent despite a slight reduction in participation,” said Andrew Grantham, an economist with CIBC Economics.
Mario Toneguzzi
(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He works as well as a freelance writer for several national publications and as a consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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