The Canadian Statistics Agency announced on Friday that the unemployment rate in the country rose to 6.2 percent in May, despite the addition of 27,000 jobs during the month.
Allnaijadiaspora.com reports that this uptick in unemployment reflects a persistent trend where population growth outpaces job creation. April saw the addition of 90,000 jobs, yet the unemployment rate continues to climb.
According to the agency’s labour force survey, Canada’s job market is weakening, attributed partly to high interest rates impacting both consumers and businesses. Over the past year, the unemployment rate has increased by 1.1 percentage points across all major demographic groups.
In May, employment increased in sectors such as health care and social assistance (+30,000), finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing (+29,000), and business, building, and other support services (+19,000). However, it declined in construction (-30,000), transportation and warehousing (-21,000), and utilities (-5,400).
Most of the newly created jobs were part-time, while full-time employment decreased. Wage growth accelerated, rising by 5.1 percent year over year, following a 4.7 percent increase in April.
This data follows the recent decision by the Bank of Canada to lower interest rates for the first time in four years, citing easing inflation and a weakening economy.
Canada’s population exceeded 40 million in January, marking a significant increase of 1.3 million from the previous year, largely driven by immigration.
