Latest Updates

• Canada Employment: October 2025 2025-11-07 08:30

  

  Canada’s employment rose +67k (vs -2.5k expected), or +0.3% MoM, in October 2025, marking a second straight monthly gain. The unemployment rate fell -0.2 ppts to 6.9% (vs 7.1% expected) and the employment rate edged up to 60.8%.

  • Employment gains totaled +127k (+0.6%) across September and October, offsetting earlier summer declines (-106k; -0.5%), with growth driven primarily by part-time work (+85k; +2.3%).

  • Private sector jobs increased +73k (+0.5%), the first rise since June, while public sector and self-employment were little changed.

  • Employment rose among core-aged men (+33k; +0.5%) and youth (+21k; +0.8%), while employment among core-aged women was steady after September’s strong gain.

  • The youth unemployment rate fell -0.6 ppts to 14.1%, the first decline since February, while the overall jobless rate dropped to 6.9%, reversing part of recent highs.

  • Job gains were concentrated in wholesale and retail trade (+41k; +1.4%), transportation and warehousing (+30k; +2.8%), information, culture, and recreation (+25k; +3.0%), and utilities (+7.6k; +4.6%).

  • Construction employment fell -15k (-0.9%), leaving the sector flat YoY but -38k (-2.3%) below its January peak.

  • Employment increased in Ontario (+55k; +0.7%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+4.4k; +1.8%), while it fell in Nova Scotia (-4.4k; -0.8%) and Manitoba (-4.0k; -0.5%).

  • Average hourly wages rose +3.5% YoY (+$1.27 to $37.06), following +3.3% in September, continuing moderate wage growth momentum.

  • Total hours worked slipped -0.2% MoM due to widespread labor disputes affecting roughly 87k workers, particularly in Alberta’s education sector.

  Source
• Canada Employment: September 2025 2025-10-10 08:30

  

  Canada’s employment rose +60k (+0.3%) in September 2025, lifting the employment rate by +0.1 ppt to 60.6% and marking the first monthly increase in three months, while the unemployment rate held steady at 7.1%.

  • Full-time employment rose sharply (+106k; +0.6%), offsetting a -46k (-1.2%) drop in part-time jobs, signaling a shift toward more stable positions.

  • Core-aged workers (25–54) drove the gains, with employment rising +76k (+1.2%) among women and +33k (+0.5%) among men, while employment among those aged 55+ fell -44k (-1.0%).

  • Youth employment was little changed, but the youth unemployment rate climbed to 14.7%, the highest since 2010 (ex-COVID), driven by higher joblessness among students (17.1%, +3.1 ppts YoY).

  • Employment increased in manufacturing (+28k; +1.5%), health care and social assistance (+14k; +0.5%), and agriculture (+13k; +6.1%), while wholesale and retail trade declined (-21k; -0.7%).

  • Alberta led job gains (+43k; +1.7%), followed by New Brunswick (+4.7k; +1.2%) and Manitoba (+3.9k; +0.5%); Newfoundland and Labrador saw a decline (-2.2k; -0.9%).

  • Public sector employment rose +31k (+0.7%), while the private sector (+22k; +0.2%) and self-employment (+7.9k; +0.3%) saw smaller increases.

  • Average hourly wages increased +3.3% YoY (+$1.17 to $36.78), slightly outpacing August’s +3.2% growth.

  • Despite September’s rebound, total employment has shown minimal net growth year-to-date (+22k; +0.1%), underscoring a weak trend since early 2025.

  Source
• Canada Employment: August 2025 2025-09-05 08:30

  

  Canada’s employment fell -66k (vs +7.5k expected) in August 2025, the second consecutive monthly decline, while the unemployment rate rose +0.2 ppts to 7.1% (vs 7.0% expected), the highest since 2016 (ex-COVID years).

  • The employment rate fell -0.2 ppts to 60.5%, extending a downward trend since January (-0.6 ppts YTD).

  • Job losses were concentrated among core-aged men (-58k; -0.8%) and women (-35k; -0.5%), while youth and older workers saw little change.

  • By industry, declines were led by professional, scientific & technical services (-26k; -1.3%), transportation & warehousing (-23k; -2.1%), and manufacturing (-19k; -1.0%), partly offset by construction (+17k; +1.1%).

  • Regionally, Ontario (-26k; -0.3%), British Columbia (-16k; -0.5%), and Alberta (-14k; -0.6%) posted the largest declines.

  • Self-employment fell sharply (-43k; -1.6%), while public and private sector employment was little changed.

  • Average hourly wages rose +3.2% YoY to $36.31, while total hours worked were flat MoM (+0.1%) but up +0.9% YoY.

  • The unemployment rate for returning students (15–24) averaged 17.9% over summer 2025, the highest since 2009 (ex-COVID).

  Source
• Canada Employment: July 2025 2025-08-08 08:30
  

  Canada’s employment fell -41k (-0.2%) in July 2025, with the employment rate down -0.2 ppts to 60.7%, while the unemployment rate held at 6.9%.

  • Youth (15–24) employment dropped -34k (-1.2%), pushing the youth unemployment rate to 14.6%, the highest since 2010 (ex-COVID years).
  • Job losses were led by information, culture & recreation (-29k; -3.3%) and construction (-22k; -1.3%); gains were seen in transportation & warehousing (+26k; +2.4%).
  • Alberta (-17k; -0.6%) and British Columbia (-16k; -0.5%) saw the largest declines, while Saskatchewan rose +3.5k (+0.6%) to the lowest jobless rate nationally (5.0%).
  • Long-term unemployment remained elevated, with 23.8% of unemployed out of work for 27+ weeks — the highest share since 1998 (ex-COVID years).
  • Average hourly wages rose +3.3% YoY to $36.16; total hours worked were flat MoM and +0.3% YoY.

  Source
• Canada Employment: June 2025 2025-07-11 08:30
  

  Canada’s employment rose by +83k (+0.4%) in June 2025, the first monthly gain since January, while the unemployment rate edged down -0.1 ppts to 6.9%.

  • Job gains were led by core-aged men (+62k; +0.8%) and women (+29k; +0.4%), while youth and older workers saw little change.
  • Most of the increase came from part-time work (+70k; +1.8%); full-time was relatively flat.
  • Employment rose in retail (+38k; +1.7%) and health care/social assistance (+17k; +0.6%), but fell in agriculture (-6k; -2.6%).
  • Unemployment among core-aged women fell to 5.4%, while youth unemployment remained elevated at 14.2%.
  • Average hourly wages rose +3.2% YoY to $36.01; total hours worked increased +0.5% MoM and +1.6% YoY.

  Source
• Canada Employment: May 2025 2025-06-06 08:30
  

  Canada’s employment was nearly unchanged in May (+8.8k; +0.0%) while the unemployment rate rose 0.1 ppts to 7.0%, the highest since 2016 (excluding pandemic years).

  • Full-time employment rose 58k (+0.3% MoM), while part-time employment fell -49k (-1.3% MoM).
  • Private sector jobs rose 61k (+0.4%), but public sector (-21k) and self-employment (-30k) declined.
  • Unemployment rose 13.8% YoY to 1.6 million; average duration of unemployment increased to 21.8 weeks.
  • Core-aged women’s employment rose +42k (+0.6%) while core-aged men’s fell -31k (-0.4%); their unemployment rates were 5.7% and 6.2%, respectively.
  • Employment rose in wholesale/retail (+43k), information/culture (+19k), and finance/real estate (+12k), but fell in public admin (-32k) and accommodation/transport (-16k each).

  Source
• Canada Employment: April 2025 2025-05-09 08:30
  

  Canada’s employment increased 7.4k (vs 2.5k expected) in April, basically no change, and the unemployment rate increased 0.2 ppts to 6.9% (vs 6.8% expected) the highest since November 2024 and the joint highest since January 2017.

  • The employment rate declined -0.1 ppts to 60.8% as the participation rate increased 0.1 ppts to 65.3%.
  • Full-time employment increased 0.2% MoM, and part-time employment fell -0.6% MoM.
  • The number of unemployed increased 2.6% MoM and 13.9% YoY including a -1.6% MoM decline in manufacturing employment and a -0.9% MoM decline in wholesale & retail employment.
  • In the prime age 25 to 54 year old segment, employment fell -0.3% MoM and increased 1.4% MoM as the employment rate fell -0.4 ppts to 83.1%.
  • Total hours worked increased 0.4% MoM in April and were up 0.9% compared with 12 months earlier.
  • Average hourly wages among employees increased 3.4% (+$1.20 to $36.13) on a year-over-year basis in April, following growth of 3.6% in March (not seasonally adjusted).

  Source
• Canada Employment: March 2025 2025-04-04 08:30
  

  Canada’s employment fell -33,000, well below expectations of a 12,000 increase, and the unemployment rate increased 0.1 ppts to 6.7% in March.

  • Employment declined in wholesale and retail trade (-29,000; -1.0% MoM), as well as information, culture and recreation (-20,000; -2.4% MoM).
  • The employment decline in March was driven by a drop in full-time work (-62,000; -0.4% MoM).
  • Private sector employment fell by 48,000 (-0.3% MoM), and public sector employment was little changed for a third consecutive month.
  • There were increases in the 'other services', such as personal and repair services (+12,000; +1.5% MoM) and utilities (+4,200; +2.8% MoM).
  • Total hours worked rose 0.4% MoM in March, following a decline of -1.3% MoM in February. On a year-over-year basis, total hours worked were up 1.2%.
  • Average hourly wages among employees were up 3.6% YoY (+$1.24 to $36.05) in March, following growth of 3.8% YoY in February.

  Source
• Canada Employment: February 2025 2025-03-07 08:30
  

  Canadian employment only increased 1,100 (vs 20,000 expected) in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.6% (vs 6.7% expected).

  • Employment increase in wholesale & retail (+51k) and finance & real estate (+16k) but was offset by declines in professional services (-33k) and transportation & warehousing (-23k).
  • The labor force participation fell -0.2 ppts to 65.3%, the first decrease since September 2024.
  • Total hours worked fell -1.3% MoM, but were up 0.5% YoY.
  • Average hourly wages among employees were up 3.8% YoY in February, following growth of 3.5% YoY in January. Snowstorms may have had an impact.

  Source
• Canada Employment: January 2025 2025-02-07 08:30
  

  Canadian employment increased 76,000 or 0.4% MoM in January, beating expectations of a 25,000 increase. With the gain in jobs, the unemployment rate fell -0.1 pts to 6.6%, a surprise drop when analysts expected it to tick higher to 6.8%.

  • Employment gains in January were led by manufacturing (+33,000) and professional, scientific and technical services (+22,000).
  • Over this three-month period, there were increases both in full-time work (+147,000) and part-time work (+64,000).
  • Average hourly wages were up 3.5% YoY a strong deceleration from 4.0% YoY in December.
  • Total actual hours worked rose 0.9% MoM in January and were up 2.2% YoY.

  Source
• Canada Employment: December 2024 2025-01-10 08:30
  

  Canada added 90,900 jobs in December, well above the 25,000 increase that was expected. The monthly increase was the largest since January 2023.

  • The unemployment rate was projecting to rise to 6.9%, but it actually ticked down by -0.1 ppt to 6.7%. Full time employment increased 57,500, and part time employment grew 33,500.
  • Despite the increase in employment, average hourly wage growth slowed from 3.9% YoY in November to 3.7% YoY in December.

  Source