Canada Adds 337,000 Jobs in June 2022

hello, As the Omicron wave of COVID-19 waned and the economy picked up, Canada’s labour market surged back in June.

The Canada jobs Labour Force Survey showed the addition of nearly 337,000 jobs, for an unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent, eclipsing the pre-COVID rate of 5.7 per cent and approaching the record of 5.4 per cent.

Employment rose and the unemployment rate fell in every Canadian province, spearheaded by the 194,300 jobs added in Ontario and an unemployment rate of 4.5 per cent in Quebec.

Demographically, men aged 25 to 54 saw their employment rate climb to 88.2 percent, the highest level since November 1981.

Women in the same age-group saw a record employment rate of 81 percent, with gains almost double the losses see in January.

Gains for women were seen in both full and part-time work, while the increases for men were concentrated in full-time work.

In the 15 to 24 age-group, men added 67,000 jobs and women 63,000, erasing January losses. Employment rates of nearly 57 percent for men and 60 percent for women are on a par with pre-COVID figures.

For those aged 55 and older, employment gains were concentrated in part-time work and for women. Employment growth of 42,000 jobs for older women returns the figures to pre-pandemic levels.

PROVINCIAL CANADA JOBS PICTURE

Provincially, Ontario’s employment growth of 194,300 jobs was concentrated in the accommodation and food services and the information, culture and recreation industries. The unemployment rate of 5.5 percent was the lowest since before COVID-19.

Quebec’s employment increase of 81,500 jobs saw the provincial unemployment rate drop to 4.5 percent, the lowest among all the provinces. The largest gains were seen in accommodation and food services; information, culture and recreation; and wholesale and retail trade.

Newfoundland & Labrador saw the largest proportional gain, adding 9,500 jobs for an increase of 4.5 percent. Unemployment fell to 12.3 percent. Further Atlantic Canada gains were seen in Prince Edward Island (3,300 jobs), Nova Scotia (3,700) and New Brunswick (1,200).

British Columbia, meanwhile, added 21,000 jobs for an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, with the gains concentrated in the Vancouver census metropolitan area.

Alberta added 8,200 jobs for an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent, Saskatchewan 7,400 for unemployment of 4.7 percent and Manitoba 6,400 jobs for an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent.

The number of Canadians who have been out of work for six months or more remains 32,000 higher than in June 2020, although their ranks have dwindled for four straight months to 212,000.

Kaylie Tiessen, an economist with Unifor, noted the proportion of part-time workers who wanted full-time jobs had risen anew after dropping earlier in the pandemic. While the employment rate for racialized worker returned to pre-pandemic levels, Tiessen said it remained higher than rates for non-racialized workers.

“We’ve gotten back to a pre-pandemic level and this is something to celebrate, but is it good enough? If we want an inclusive economy, we have to put in the effort,” she said.

It is one of several challenges facing policy-makers in the coming months.

Royce Mendes, head of macro strategy at Desjardins, said with low unemployment and record-high job vacancies across the country, the labour market may have reached capacity, or full employment.

The pool of available workers may also be shrinking. Fan pointed to the participation rate for those over 55 being below pre-pandemic levels, suggesting the pandemic may have accelerated retirement plans for some older workers.

While the number of employed youth is back to pre-pandemic levels, where they work has shifted from accommodation and food services to professional and technical services, as well as health care.

Statistics Canada said affordability concerns and workers’ desire for more flexible work could influence companies’ ability to attract and retain employees through return-to-office plans.

“Workers feel like they have more leverage these days with the tight labour market, it could be they’re realizing that their needs for what they’re looking for in their jobs have changed drastically,” Fan said. “More workers might be stepping back and re-evaluating, ‘What exactly do I want?’”

Leah Nord, senior director of workforce strategies for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, warned the situation is going to make it difficult to fill the nearly one million job vacancies across the country. She cited the need for a strategy that includes immigration and skills training.

Asked about labour shortages earlier this week, federal Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said both issues were part of federal efforts, adding so too was tapping into untapped labour pools like Canadians with disabilities and Indigenous people.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2022.

WHAT ARE THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS?

Unemployment rate (%)	5.5
Employment rate (%)	61.8
Labour force participation rate (%)	65.4
Number unemployed	1,135,500
Number working	19,512,700
Youth (15-24) unemployment rate (%)	10.9
Men (over 25) unemployment rate (%)	4.7
Women (over 25) unemployment rate (%)	4.5

Unemployment rate by city

The national unemployment rate was 5.5 per cent in June. 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):