Canadian unemployment rate rises to 6.4%, with student summer jobs


The Canadian economy was virtually unchanged in June, shedding 1,400 jobs, while unemployment rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.4 per cent, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

The unemployment rate has trended upward for more than a year, with 1.4 million people unemployed in June, according to the agency’s monthly Labour Force Survey.

Of those who were unemployed in May, one-fifth became employed by June, though this was a lower proportion than the pre-pandemic average for the same months.

Fewer people worked in transportation and housing and public administration, while jobs were added to the food services and accommodation sector as well as the agriculture sector.

The unemployment rate also rose among Black and South Asian Canadians between 25 and 54, the data agency noted.

For Black Canadians, the figure rose by 4.4 percentage points to 11.9 per cent from the same time last year. For South Asian Canadians, that rate rose by 1.7 percentage points to 6.7 per cent in June. Both figures are non-seasonally adjusted.

  • Are you working a part-time job involuntarily because you couldn’t find full-time employment? CBC News wants to hear from you. Email ask@cbc.ca

Average hourly wages rose 5.4 per cent in June compared to the same time last year, and were up from 5.1 per cent in May. 

“This report drives home the point that the Canadian labour market can simply no longer be considered tight — in fact, it is quickly tipping in the other direction,” wrote BMO economist Douglas Porter in a note.

He noted that a softer job market raises the odds of a Bank of Canada rate cut. But the central bank has also been carefully watching rising wages, which “remain the very definition of sticky [and] will give the Bank pause,” Porter wrote.

WATCH | The unemployment rate climbed to 6.4 per cent in June: 

Unemployment up to 6.4% in June, Statistics Canada says

CBC’s Scott Peterson looks at the latest labour market data for Statistics Canada, which show unemployment at the highest level since January 2022, when it was at 6.5 per cent.

The youth unemployment rate was “particularly painful” in June, Porter added. That rate, for people between 15 and 24, rose 0.9 percentage points to 13.5 per cent last month.

It’s the highest the rate has been since September 2014, with exception made for 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

A tough summer job market for students

University of British Columbia students are pictured during the first day of school in Vancouver on Sept. 5, 2023. The employment rate among returning students — those trying to find summer jobs before returning to school full-time in the fall — fell to 46.8 per cent in June. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

“I think in general, when we look at … the ups and downs of the job market, youth are the most sensitive,” said Brendon Bernard, an economist at Indeed Canada. 

“When the labour market gets strong, the youth really benefit. And when things weaken, we see that they’re the ones who get hit. And so over the past year or…



Read More: Canadian unemployment rate rises to 6.4%, with student summer jobs

CanadianJobsraterisesstudentsummerUnemployment
Comments (0)
Add Comment