Canadian Employment Declines and Unemployment Rises in August 2022

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported on Friday (9-9-22) that employment fell by 40,000, or 0.2%, in August, bringing the cumulative decline since May 2022 to 114,000, or 0.6%. StatsCan notes that the decline in employment since May has been primarily in full-time work. Despite the decline, full-time employment in August was 593,000, or 3.9%, higher than in August of 2021. Part-time employment was little changed over the same time period.

The unemployment rate in August was 5.4%, an increase of 0.5% from the record lows of 4.9% set in June and July of 2022. The August increase marks the first increase in unemployment not related to the tightening of health restrictions since May 2020, when the unemployment rate reached its pandemic peak.

The adjusted unemployment rate—which includes people who wanted a job but did not actively look for one—increased 0.5% to 7.3% in August. This increase was largely due to the rise in the number of unemployed, rather than an increase in those who were outside of the labor force but wanted to work.

Long-term unemployment—the number of people who had been continuously unemployed for 27 weeks or more—increased by 22,000, or 13.7%, in August, which in turn negated a similar size decline in July. Long-term unemployment as a proportion of the total labor force was 0.9% in August, the same as its February 2020, pre-pandemic level.