The national unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.1 per cent in April as Canadian employers added some 90,000 jobs, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
The Labour Force Survey shows employment gains were concentrated in part-time work and in the private sector, both accounting for roughly 50,000 new positions.
The professional, scientific and technical services and food and accommodation sectors drove job gains last month, in addition to health care and social assistance and natural resources industries.
Youth aged 15-24 in particular are seeing unemployment rise at faster rates than other demographics, StatCan noted. The jobless rate for youth was up 2.9 percentage points year-over-year to 12.8 per cent in April, marking the highest unemployment rate for this demographic since July 2016, outside the COVID-19 pandemic.
The April report marks a reversal from March where the economy shed 2,200 jobs.
CIBC executive director of economics Andrew Grantham said in a note to clients Friday morning that the April jobs report “easily beat” economists’ expectations.
The Bank of Canada is watching the labour market, particularly the pace of wage growth, closely as it readies for its next interest rate decision in June.
Average hourly wages were up 4.7 per cent in April, down from 5.1 per cent the month previous.
While the April report was “certainly better than expected,” Grantham said the overall trend is still one of “loosening” in Canada’s once-tight labour market with signs of easing in wage pressures.
More to come…
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