OTTAWA —
OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the economy added 35,200 jobs in December fuelled by a gain in full-time jobs, while the unemployment rate ticked lower.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.6 per cent for the final month of the year, compared with a rate of 5.9 per cent in November when the country lost 71,200 jobs.
The increase in the number of jobs in December came as full-time employment rose by 38,400 jobs. The number of part-time jobs fell by 3,200.
Regionally, Ontario and Quebec led the job gains.
Ontario added 25,100 jobs in December, boosted by gains in construction and public administration. Quebec added 21,100 jobs in the month, helped by gains in the accommodation and food services sector as well as manufacturing.
The Canadian economy added 320,300 jobs for all of 2019 including 282,800 full-time positions and 37,500 part-time jobs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2020.
A quick look at December employment (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
- Unemployment rate: 5.6 per cent (5.9)
- Employment rate: 61.8 per cent (61.7)
- Participation rate: 65.5 per cent (65.6)
- Number unemployed: 1,142,800 (1,194,300)
- Number working: 19,127,400 (19,092,200)
- Youth (15-24 years) unemployment rate: 11.1 per cent (11.6)
- Men (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.9 per cent (5.2)
- Women (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.6 per cent (4.7)
Canada’s national unemployment rate was 5.6 per cent in December. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
- Newfoundland and Labrador 11.8 per cent (11.2)
- Prince Edward Island 7.9 (8.0)
- Nova Scotia 7.9 (7.8)
- New Brunswick 7.5 (8.0)
- Quebec 5.3 (5.6)
- Ontario 5.3 (5.6)
- Manitoba 5.0 (5.6)
- Saskatchewan 5.7 (5.8)
- Alberta 7.0 (7.2)
- British Columbia 4.8 (5.0)
The national unemployment rate was 5.6 per cent in December. 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. 7.0 per cent (6.7)
- Halifax 6.5 (5.9)
- Moncton, N.B. 5.3 (5.6)
- Saint John, N.B. 7.8 (8.2)
- Saguenay, Que. 6.2 (6.1)
- Quebec 3.5 (3.3)
- Sherbrooke, Que. 4.7 (5.3)
- Trois-Rivieres, Que. 5.1 (5.4)
- Montreal 6.0 (5.8)
- Gatineau, Que. 5.0 (4.7)
- Ottawa 4.2 (4.3)
- Kingston, Ont. 5.7 (5.8)
- Peterborough, Ont. 7.5 (6.3)
- Oshawa, Ont. 6.1 (5.8)
- Toronto 5.7 (5.7)
- Hamilton, Ont. 4.5 (4.8)
- St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 4.9 (5.4)
- Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 5.1 (5.2)
- Brantford, Ont. 3.8 (3.1)
- Guelph, Ont. 5.6 (5.3)
- London, Ont. 5.7 (5.8)
- Windsor, Ont. 7.5 (7.0)
- Barrie, Ont. 5.2 (5.9)
- Sudbury, Ont. 5.5 (5.9)
- Thunder Bay, Ont. 5.0 (5.0)
- Winnipeg 5.3 (5.3)
- Regina 6.0 (6.0)
- Saskatoon 5.7 (5.5)
- Calgary 7.1 (6.9)
- Edmonton 8.0 (7.7)
- Kelowna, B.C. 4.1 (3.8)
- Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. 4.9 (5.0)
- Vancouver 4.8 (4.9)
- Victoria 3.4 (3.5)
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2020
