November saw 51,000 new jobs, but rising unemployment reflects more Canadians seeking work
Statistics Canada reported an increase in employment by 51,000 (0.2 percent) in November.
The employment rate held steady at 60.6 percent, while the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 6.8 percent, as more people entered the labour force seeking work.
Employment among core-aged men (25 to 54 years) rose by 45,000 (0.6 percent), increasing their employment rate to 86.5 percent. This gain partially offset a cumulative 0.5 percentage point decline observed in September and October.
Among women aged 55 to 64, employment fell by 20,000 (1.3 percent), with their employment rate dropping to 58.6 percent. This represented a decline of 0.7 percentage points from October and 1.9 percentage points from its peak in May 2024.
There was little change in employment among other major age groups.
Employment gains were recorded in several industries, including wholesale and retail trade (+39,000; +1.3 percent), construction (+18,000; +1.2 percent), professional, scientific, and technical services (+17,000; +0.9 percent), educational services (+15,000; +1.0 percent), and accommodation and food services (+15,000; +1.3 percent).
Conversely, declines occurred in manufacturing (-29,000; -1.6 percent), transportation and warehousing (-19,000; -1.7 percent), and natural resources (-6,300; -1.8 percent).
In manufacturing, Ontario experienced the largest decline, losing 20,000 jobs (2.5 percent).
Transportation and warehousing saw a 3.5 percent reduction in total hours worked, influenced by labour disputes during the reference week, including the Vancouver and Montréal port lockouts and the Canada Post strike.
Employment grew in Alberta (+24,000; +1.0 percent), Quebec (+22,000; +0.5 percent), Manitoba (+6,600; +0.9 percent), and Prince Edward Island (+2,700; +2.9 percent). In Prince Edward Island, the unemployment rate fell by 2.0 percentage points to 8.0 percent.
Alberta recorded its third employment gain in four months, raising the province’s employment rate by 0.4 percentage points to 64.1 percent, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 7.5 percent.
Quebec’s employment rate increased to 60.9 percent, with its unemployment rate little changed at 5.9 percent. In Ontario, employment was largely unchanged, but the unemployment rate rose by 0.8 percentage points to 7.6 percent, the highest since May 2014, excluding pandemic years.
This was attributed to more Ontarians entering the labour force and actively seeking work.
Average hourly wages increased by 4.1 percent (+$1.40), reaching $35.68 in November. This followed year-over-year growth of 4.9 percent in October. Total hours worked remained nearly unchanged (-0.2 percent) but were up 1.9 percent compared with 12 months earlier.
The unemployment rate rose to 6.8 percent, the highest since January 2017, excluding the pandemic years. The number of unemployed individuals increased by 87,000 (6.1 percent) to 1.5 million. Year-over-year, the number of unemployed rose by 276,000 (22.2 percent).
Nearly half (46.3 percent) of unemployed individuals in November had not worked in the past year or had never worked, up from 39.5 percent a year earlier. The share of long-term unemployed people rose to 21.7 percent, an increase of 5.9 percentage points from November 2023.
Youth unemployment climbed by 1.1 percentage points to 13.9 percent, with increases among both young men (+1.4 percentage points) and young women (+0.9 percentage points). Year-over-year, the youth unemployment rate rose by 2.3 percentage points.
For core-aged women, the unemployment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points to 5.8 percent, while for core-aged men, it remained unchanged at 5.7 percent. Among people aged 55 and older, the unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 5.3 percent.
Statistics Canada noted that 29.2 percent of Canadians aged 25 to 54 completed training outside the regular education system in the past 12 months.
The most common type of training was job-specific (73.9 percent), followed by personal development (17.8 percent) and occupational health and safety (15.4 percent). Cost and lack of time were cited as barriers by higher proportions of non-participants compared to November 2022.
Hybrid work arrangements saw little change, with 11.5 percent of workers splitting time between home and other locations. Among hybrid workers, 55.8 percent worked at least half their hours on-site, reflecting shifts in public administration, where this figure rose to 61.5 percent.
Among Canada’s 20 largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Windsor recorded the highest unemployment rate at 8.7 percent, followed by Edmonton (8.3 percent), Toronto (8.1 percent), and Calgary (7.9 percent).
The lowest rates were in Victoria (3.7 percent) and Quebec City (4.5 percent). Year-over-year, unemployment rates rose in most CMAs, with Calgary, Edmonton, and Quebec City seeing the largest increases.
