Unemployment rate drops to new record low as wages rise: StatCan
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The economy added 40,000 jobs in May, boosted by an increase in full-time jobs as the labor market continued to tighten and wages rose, Statistics Canada said Friday.
OTTAWA — The economy added 40,000 jobs in May, boosted by an increase in full-time jobs as the labor market continued to tighten and wages rose, Statistics Canada said Friday.
The increase came as the unemployment rate fell to 5.1%, the lowest rate since at least 1976, dating back to comparable data. The unemployment rate was 5.2% in April.
TD Bank senior economist James Orlando said as Canadians headed to patios and hit the road for a belated vacation, employers continued to seek workers to meet increased demand.
“This has vacancy rates at record highs, which clearly shows that the Canadian economy is operating beyond full employment,” Orlando wrote in a report.
Statistics Canada said Friday that average hourly wages for all employees rose 3.9% year over year in May, compared with a 3.3% increase in April.
The jobs report follows the Bank of Canada’s decision last week to raise its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 1.5% in a bid to help rein in the ‘inflation.
The annual pace of inflation hit 6.8% in April, the fastest year-over-year rise in 31 years.
« With more people employed and rising wage growth, the strength of domestic demand will be enough to keep inflation a thorn in the side of the Bank of Canada, » Orlando wrote.
The overall job gain in May came as full-time employment rose by 135,000 but part-time employment fell by 96,000.
The services sector recorded a gain of 81,000 jobs, with accommodation and food services adding 20,000 jobs.
Employment in professional, scientific and technical services increased by 21,000, while educational services gained 24,000 jobs and retail trade added 34,000 jobs during the month.
Transportation and warehousing lost 25,000 jobs, while the number of jobs in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing fell by 19,000.
Meanwhile, the goods-producing sector lost 41,000 jobs during the month, while 43,000 manufacturing jobs were lost.
Long-term unemployment, that is, people looking for work or on temporary layoff for 27 weeks or more, accounted for 19.7% of total unemployment in May, down from 15.6% in February 2020.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 10, 2022.
The Canadian Press
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