Unemployment falls to 6.7% in December as core-aged men and key industries drive job gains
Statistics Canada reported that employment in Canada grew by 91,000 in December, reflecting a 0.4 percent growth rate.
This boost raised the employment rate by 0.2 percentage points to 60.8 percent, while the unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.7 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from November.
Employment growth in December was particularly strong among core-aged men aged 25 to 54, who added 30,000 jobs, a rise of 0.4 percent.
Men and women aged 55 and older also saw significant gains, with employment increasing by 41,000 and 21,000, respectively.
The largest employment increases were recorded in educational services and transportation and warehousing, each adding 17,000 jobs.
Health care and social assistance, as well as finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing, each contributed 16,000 new positions.
Several provinces experienced notable employment gains. Alberta led with 35,000 additional jobs, representing a 1.4 percent increase, followed by Ontario, which added 23,000 jobs.
British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan also saw increases, while Manitoba recorded the only decline, with employment falling by 7,200.
In 2024, Canada’s workforce grew by 413,000, an increase of 2.0 percent compared to December 2023. Public sector employment played a significant role, with a monthly increase of 40,000 in December and an annual rise of 156,000 jobs.
Self-employment also rebounded in December, adding 24,000 jobs for a total annual gain of 64,000.
Average hourly wages rose 3.8 percent year-over-year in December, reaching $35.77. However, this marked a slowdown in wage growth compared to earlier months. Total hours worked increased by 0.5 percent in December and were 2.1 percent higher than the same period in 2023.
In 2024, 8.8 percent of Canadian workers were employed in industries heavily dependent on US demand for exports. These sectors, such as oil and gas extraction and primary metal manufacturing, typically offered above-average wages, with an average hourly rate of $37.24.
Alberta’s Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake region had the highest proportion of jobs tied to US demand, at 22.8 percent.
Approximately 675,000 Canadians engaged in digital platform work in 2024, accounting for 2.3 percent of the working-age population. Popular activities included food delivery, personal transport, and content creation.
Immigrants admitted in the past five years and racialized groups, such as South Asian and Black Canadians, were more likely to work through digital platforms than other demographics.
CIBC Capital Markets economist Andrew Grantham remarked on the results, stating, the “report is clearly better than anticipated, although the unemployment rate is still elevated and indicative of slack within the economy, and we still see the need for further interest rate cuts to fully reduce that excess capacity,” as reported by Reuters.
