OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the economy added 230,700 jobs in June as restrictions put in place to slow the pandemic were rolled back across the country.
The gain came as the number of part-time positions rose 263,900, bringing it basically back to pre-pandemic levels, while the number of full-time jobs fell 33,200.
Statistics Canada said Friday the part-time gains were driven by jumps in jobs in the hard-hit retail and food services sectors and concentrated among youth.
The 101,000 jobs increase in the accommodation and food services sector was the largest increase since last July, with Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia accounting for most of the increase, while Ontario grew slower on account of restrictions on indoor dining.
More people also went looking for work in June, after giving up on the job hunt in May, as the total size of the labour force increased by 170,000 in June.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.8 per cent for the month compared with 8.2 per cent in May, which the statistics agency says was the lowest of the pandemic since the 7.5 per cent recorded in March.
The result for June left the country about 340,000 jobs, or almost two per cent, below pre-pandemic employment levels seen in February 2020.
Statistics Canada said the employment gap is likely closer to 540,000 jobs when factoring in population growth.
CIBC senior economist Royce Mendes says the overall increase in June shot past the best of market expectations, which could also mean gains in the coming months may be more modest than massive.
economy added 230,700 jobs in June as restrictions put in place to slow the pandemic were rolled back across the country.
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Here’s a quick look at Canada’s June employment data(numbers from the previous month in brackets):
Unemployment rate: 7.8 per cent (8.2)
Employment rate: 60.1 per cent (59.4)
Participation rate: 65.2 per cent (64.6)
Number unemployed: 1,591,600 (1,652,300)
Number working: 18,789,900 (18,559,200)
Youth (15-24 years) unemployment rate: 13.6 per cent (15.9)
Men (25 plus) unemployment rate: 7.2 per cent (6.9)
Women (25 plus) unemployment rate: 6.5 per cent (7.0)
Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
Newfoundland and Labrador 13.0 per cent (13.4)
Prince Edward Island 12.5 per cent (9.6)
Nova Scotia 9.0 per cent (9.8)
New Brunswick 9.3 per cent (9.0)
Quebec 6.3 per cent (6.6)
Ontario 8.4 per cent (9.3)
Manitoba 7.6 per cent (7.2)
Saskatchewan 6.7 per cent (6.3)
Alberta 9.3 per cent (8.7)
British Columbia 6.6 per cent (7.0)
Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
St. John’s, N.L. 8.8 per cent (8.5)
Halifax 8.8 per cent (8.9)
Moncton, N.B. 7.8 per cent (8.8)
Saint John, N.B. 8.2 per cent (8.5)
Saguenay, Que. 6.5 per cent (6.1)
Quebec City 5.1 per cent (4.9)
Sherbrooke, Que. 5.1 per cent (4.6)
Trois-Rivieres, Que. 4.4 per cent (4.2)
Montreal 7.7 per cent (7.9)
Gatineau, Que. 6.3 per cent (6.2)
Ottawa 8.2 per cent (7.9)
Kingston, Ont. 8.9 per cent (8.7)
Peterborough, Ont. 5.9 per cent (5.9)
Oshawa, Ont. 9.0 per cent (8.4)
Toronto 9.8 per cent (9.6)
Hamilton, Ont. 8.1 per cent (7.7)
St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 11.5 per cent (10.8)
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 6.5 per cent (6.7)
Brantford, Ont. 6.5 per cent (6.1)
Guelph, Ont. 9.4 per cent (9.1)
London, Ont. 10.0 per cent (9.7)
Windsor, Ont. 11.8 per cent (10.6)
Barrie, Ont. 8.4 per cent (7.7)
Greater Sudbury, Ont. 7.9 per cent (8.1)
Thunder Bay, Ont. 7.1 per cent (7.7)
Winnipeg 7.9 per cent (7.6)
Regina 6.8 per cent (7.5)
Saskatoon 7.3 per cent (7.4)
Calgary 9.2 per cent (8.7)
Edmonton 9.7 per cent (10.2)
Kelowna, B.C. 6.3 per cent (5.8)
Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. 5.7 per cent (5.6)
Vancouver 7.5 per cent (7.5)
Victoria 5.4 per cent (6.3)
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2021.
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
