Canada’s labour market showed signs of recovery in June with the addition of 83,000 jobs, marking the first employment increase since January and pushing the unemployment rate down to 6.9%, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
The job gains were concentrated in part-time work, which increased by 70,000 positions, while the employment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 60.9%. The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points from May’s peak of 7.0% — the highest level since September 2016, excluding the pandemic period.
Core-aged workers drove the employment growth, with men aged 25 to 54 gaining 62,000 jobs and women in the same age group adding 29,000 positions. The employment rate for core-aged men rose 0.6 percentage points to 86.6%, while it increased 0.2 percentage points to 80.3% for core-aged women.
Student unemployment reaches highest June level since 2009
Summer job prospects remained challenging for students, with the unemployment rate for returning students aged 15 to 24 rising to 17.4% in June, up from 15.8% a year earlier. This marked the highest unemployment rate for the month of June since 2009, excluding the pandemic period.
The difficult summer job market affected all age groups of students. Those aged 15 to 16 saw their unemployment rate climb 3.3 percentage points to 27.8%, while students aged 17 to 19 faced a rate of 19.0%, up 1.8 percentage points from the previous year.
Retail trade leads industry gains
Wholesale and retail trade posted the strongest employment growth, adding 34,000 jobs in June, with retail trade accounting for 38,000 of those positions. The sector has now seen employment grow by 84,000 jobs over the past year.
Health care and social assistance also contributed to the month’s gains, adding 17,000 positions — the first notable change in the sector since December 2024. Year-over-year, health care employment has grown by 78,000 jobs.
Agriculture was the only industry to post a significant decline, losing 6,000 jobs in June.
Regional employment varies across provinces
Alberta led provincial job growth with 30,000 new positions, driven by full-time work. The province’s unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points to 6.8%.
Quebec added 23,000 jobs, with wholesale and retail trade accounting for most of the increase. However, the province’s unemployment rate rose 0.5 percentage points to 6.3% as more people entered the job market.
Ontario gained 21,000 jobs after employment declines in March and April, though the unemployment rate remained relatively unchanged at 7.8%. The Windsor area continued to face challenges, with an unemployment rate of 11.2% — the highest among census metropolitan areas.
Manitoba added 8,500 jobs, while Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia each lost jobs.
Wage growth moderates
Average hourly wages among employees grew 3.2% year-over-year in June, reaching $36.01. This represented a slight slowdown from the 3.4% growth recorded in May.
Long-term unemployment has increased, with 21.8% of unemployed people having searched for work for 27 weeks or more in June, up from 17.7% a year earlier. However, layoff rates remained stable at 0.5%, similar to pre-pandemic levels.
The employment gains mark a turning point after several months of labour market softening, though challenges remain for young workers entering the summer job market.