Canada Adds Few Jobs in May as Unemployment Rises to 7.0%

On Friday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) released its Labor Force Survey for May, showing little change in overall employment for a second consecutive month.

Employment increased by just 8,800 positions in May. Since January, there has been virtually no employment growth, following strong gains between October 2024 and January, when 211,000 jobs were added—an increase of 1.0%.

Job growth in May was concentrated in the following sectors:

• Wholesale and retail trade: up 43,000 jobs (+1.5%)
• Information, culture and recreation: up 19,000 positions (+2.3%)
• Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing: up 12,000 jobs (+0.8%)
• Utilities: up 4,900 positions (+3.1%)

These gains were offset by declines in other areas:

• Public administration: down 32,000 jobs (-2.5%)
• Accommodation and food services: down 16,000 positions (-1.4%)
• Transportation and warehousing: down 16,000 jobs (-1.4%)
• Business, building, and other support services: down 15,000 positions (-2.1%)

Unemployment

The unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 7.0% in May—the highest level since September 2016, excluding pandemic years (2020–21). This marks the third straight monthly increase, with the rate rising a total of 0.4 percentage points since February.

There were 1.6 million unemployed people in May, up 13.8% (or 191,000) from a year earlier. Fewer unemployed individuals in April transitioned to employment in May—22.6%, compared with 24.0% a year earlier and a pre-pandemic May average of 31.5% (2017–19, not seasonally adjusted).

StatCan notes that this decline suggests job seekers are facing greater challenges in the current labor market.