Federal data shows Canadians are increasingly struggling to find and hold onto jobs — unemployment rates are higher than they have been in years. Statistics Canada emphasized any employment growth was “outpaced” by population growth. Unemployment has surged to 6.6%, a seven-year high outside the pandemic years, and youth unemployment reaching a troubling 16.7%, a new StatsCan report shows. Rates in the US by contrast continue to drop, with recently released numbers showing unemployment has reached 4.2%. In August, 44,000 Canadians lost full-time jobs, joining 1.5 million unemployed Canadians. .The employment rate, which includes the Canadian population aged 15 and older, decreased to 60.8% in August, which StatsCan noted is the “the fourth consecutive monthly decline and the 10th decline in the past 11 months.” Since last August, the employment rate dropped 1.2%, “as employment growth (+1.6%) was outpaced by growth in the population aged 15 and older.”Unemployment primarily affects men 25 to 54 years old and 55 and older. Employment in some areas had a slight improvement, such as educational services, health care and social assistance, finance, insurance, real estate and rental and leasing. However it dropped in what was deemed "other services," professional, scientific and technical services and natural resources. The most significant drop was -4.5% in utilities jobs. Since last August, the youth employment rate has dropped significantly, especially among young men. Employment among young men dropped -4.5% to 52.3% overall and young women saw a -3.5% drop to 55.2%. .The Conservative party (CPC) in a statement in response to the StatsCan report attributed the troubling numbers to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “destructive economic policies (that) are killing the jobs that Canadians need.”“Not only are jobs becoming harder to find, but Canadians' paycheques are failing to keep up with Justin Trudeau’s cost of living crisis,” wrote the CPC, citing a StatsCan report from last week that showed GDP per capita has dropped for five consecutive quarters for a total of a whopping 3.6% since 2022. “If Canada had simply kept pace with the U.S. over the past two years, our economy would be 8.5 percent larger—that’s about $6,200 more income per Canadian each year,” said economist Trevor Tombe.
Federal data shows Canadians are increasingly struggling to find and hold onto jobs — unemployment rates are higher than they have been in years. Statistics Canada emphasized any employment growth was “outpaced” by population growth. Unemployment has surged to 6.6%, a seven-year high outside the pandemic years, and youth unemployment reaching a troubling 16.7%, a new StatsCan report shows. Rates in the US by contrast continue to drop, with recently released numbers showing unemployment has reached 4.2%. In August, 44,000 Canadians lost full-time jobs, joining 1.5 million unemployed Canadians. .The employment rate, which includes the Canadian population aged 15 and older, decreased to 60.8% in August, which StatsCan noted is the “the fourth consecutive monthly decline and the 10th decline in the past 11 months.” Since last August, the employment rate dropped 1.2%, “as employment growth (+1.6%) was outpaced by growth in the population aged 15 and older.”Unemployment primarily affects men 25 to 54 years old and 55 and older. Employment in some areas had a slight improvement, such as educational services, health care and social assistance, finance, insurance, real estate and rental and leasing. However it dropped in what was deemed "other services," professional, scientific and technical services and natural resources. The most significant drop was -4.5% in utilities jobs. Since last August, the youth employment rate has dropped significantly, especially among young men. Employment among young men dropped -4.5% to 52.3% overall and young women saw a -3.5% drop to 55.2%. .The Conservative party (CPC) in a statement in response to the StatsCan report attributed the troubling numbers to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “destructive economic policies (that) are killing the jobs that Canadians need.”“Not only are jobs becoming harder to find, but Canadians' paycheques are failing to keep up with Justin Trudeau’s cost of living crisis,” wrote the CPC, citing a StatsCan report from last week that showed GDP per capita has dropped for five consecutive quarters for a total of a whopping 3.6% since 2022. “If Canada had simply kept pace with the U.S. over the past two years, our economy would be 8.5 percent larger—that’s about $6,200 more income per Canadian each year,” said economist Trevor Tombe.
